■«■■■■ " 

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P. L. 123 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

■ NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO - DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



Paris, the capital of France, represents much that is finest in 
the civilization of the modern world. The culture of Paris, 
like that of France, reaches far hack into the past ; it is mature 
and rich in all elements that made up the older civilization of 
Europe. To France we are under obligation for the transmis- 
sion of ancient culture to the present world ; to her we are 
indebted for the ideas of equality and democracy which are the 
essence of modern political and social development. Without 
the French, modern European civilization would be very differ- 
ent from what it is. To them more than to any other people 
humanity must give thanks for the preservation of its civiliza- 
tion, old and new. To the idealism of France, to her heroism 
and foresight, more than all else to her high sense of honor, 
we owe our best. 



MODERN EUROPEAN 
CIVILIZATION 

A TEXTBOOK 

FOR 

SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



BY 

ROSCOE LEWIS ASHLEY 

author of 

"early european civilization" 

American history," "the new civics 1 



N*hj gork 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1919 

All rights reserved 




Copyright, 1918, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1918. 



Norinooo iP«0s 

J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



TRAN8FBR 
ft O, PUBLIC LIBJUBY 
SEPT. IO, 1940 



CO 



**- 8raKEBD 597711 




PREFACE 

At no previous time has Europe been so close to us, or 
has recent European history been so important, as at the 
present time. Our interest is attracted as never before 
to the conditions and problems in different countries, to 
changes of the last half century, and to causes, events, 
e* and effects of the Great War. Without a comprehension 

of the recent past, it will be far more difficult to study and 
to understand the work of reorganization and reconstruc- 
tion in Europe that must follow the close of the war. 

A large part of a book on Europe during the three cen- 
1 1 j turies since 1648 can wisely be devoted to the history of 

the last fifty years or to a study of conditions in the early 
twentieth century. The author regrets that the limits 
of this volume have forced him to omit a great deal of 
material that he has used for years with his own students. 
In deciding what to discard and what to keep, he has 
tried to select those topics of permanent value which are 
also most vital to a comprehension of problems likely to 
arise during the next five or ten years. It has been nec- 
essary to retain some material, on the youngest and most 
aggressive of the nations, which most of us would have 
preferred to omit. Unless we know the history of middle 
Europe during the last century and study carefully condi- 
tions in those countries and characteristics of those peoples, 
we shall fail absolutely to understand why the world has 
been involved in a terrible war since 1914 and what peace 
conditions are likely to be permanent. 

Following the plan of Early European Civilization this 
book puts stress upon great movements rather than upon 



,% *# 



VI PREFACE 

minor historical changes. It gives a larger amount of 
material on social and economic conditions and on social 
and economic changes than any similar textbook. Since 
the main purpose of both books is to explain the present 
through a study of the past, it treats in considerable 
detail those changes which are most closely associated 
with the most important institutions in Europe at the 
present time. Since it does not cover the great periods 
of time included within the first volume of the series, it 
has been possible to treat many topics in a much more 
complete way than was either possible or desirable in Early 
European Civilization. Because a student who has alreadj^ 
devoted a year to the study of early European history is 
capable of doing more advanced work than was possible 
in his first year, this book has been made more difficult. 
Those characteristics of style and treatment which dis- 
tinguished Early European Civilization have been retained, 
however, being modified only so far as the character of 
the subject, the briefer period of time covered, and the 
greater maturity of the student make desirable. 

This book completes not only a series of texts for a 
modern two-year course in European history, but, with 
the companion volume on The New Civics and the re- 
vised American History, it gives material that represents 
fairly well the new three-year course in the social sciences 
in the high school, to which the writer has given his almost 
undivided attention since 1909. This course, completed 
by a fourth year of Social Economics and Civics Problems, 
represents his own slight contribution to the solution of a 
very important problem — the reorganization of the high 
school course in " history." Through the courtesy of the 
Pasadena school authorities and with the aid of his efficient 
colleagues, he has done an immense amount of experiment- 
ing and development work. His aims have been those of 
very many high school and college teachers — a more 



PREFACE Vll 

complete socialization of history and the establishment 
of a better relationship between the record of the past 
and study of the present on the one hand and the interest 
or needs of the high school pupil on the other. The writer 
hopes and believes that his work has been done thoroughly 
from the educational point of view ; the scope of the field 
necessarily has prevented much intensive research work. 

A list of the author's indebtednesses would include the 
names of all co-workers in this fascinating field, in which 
a good beginning has been made, and in which the future 
holds so very much in store. It would include the authors 
of the several hundred books of reference and editors of 
documents to whom he is really indebted for suggestions 
or material, besides a still larger number whose works he 
used casually. Among the former are the writers of at 
least a dozen college texts of which considerable use has 
been made by his advanced classes, as the course was 
being developed. Among these authors, without whose 
books the class work of past years would have been much 
more difficult, are Professors George Burton Adams, 
Charles M. Andrews, Charles A. Beard, Henry E. Bourne, 
Carlton J. H. Hayes, Charles Downer Hazen, Frederic 
Austin Ogg, James Harvey Robinson, and Charles Seigno- 
bos. His especial thanks are due to Miss Lenora Schop- 
bach, teacher of medieval and modern history in the 
Pasadena High School, who has worked with him continu- 
ally, to Professor Frederic A. Ogg of the University of 
Wisconsin, who has read the manuscript of the whole 
book and given valuable aid on many subjects, and to 
Professor Carlton J. H. Hayes of Columbia University, 
who has offered helpful suggestions on several chapters 
read in proof. 

Acknowledgment is due for the use of maps prepared 
by Professors Coman and Kendall and by Professors Tarr 
and McMurry, to Mr. Fred K. Hollyer for the use of 



vih PREFACE 

photographs from his fine collection, chiefly of portraits 
in the Royal Portrait Gallery, London, and for the use of 
special but uncopyrighted photographs to the Bain News 
Service, Brown Brothers, International Film Service Co., 
Inc., Press Illustrating Service, Inc., Underwood and 
Underwood, and the Western Newspaper Association. 
Other special acknowledgments are made in the list of 
illustrations or in copyright statements. 

Pasadena, Cal, 
Sept., 1918. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Europe in the Early Seventeenth Century 1 

PART I 

THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM (1603-1789) 

II. England (1603-1760) 31 

III. Absolutism on the Continent of Europe . 64 

IV. Struggle for Colonial and Commercial 

Empire 85 

V. Reform . . . . . ' . . .117 

PART II 

THE AGE OF REVOLUTION (1789-1849) 

VI. The French Revolution .... 139 

VII. Napoleon 172 

VIII. Reconstruction and Reaction (1800-1830) . 197^ 

IX. The Economic Revolution in England . 222 

X. Economic Revolution on the Continent . 248 

XL Political Revolutions (1830-1849) . . 267 

PART III 

DEMOCRACY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

(1849-1918) 

XII. National Unity (1849-1871) . . . .295 

XIII. France, Italy, and the Netherlands . . 325 

XIV. Germany and Austria (1870-1914) . . 364 
XV. The Russias 396 

XVI. Great Britain Before 1865 .... 420 

XVII. Great Britain After 1865 «... 445 



X CONTENTS 

PART IV 
EXPANSION AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVIII. The British Empire 481 

XIX. The Far East . . . . . . .508 

XX. Africa and the Near East 526 

XXI. The Great Alliances and International 

Conflicts 550 

XXII. The Great War (to 1918) .... 573 

PART V 
EUROPE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 

XXIII. The People and Their Governments . . 617 

XXIV. Commerce, Industry, and Labor . . . 637 
XXV. Progress and Betterment . . . . 660 

APPENDIX 687 

INDEX . 691 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Heart of Paris Frontispiece 

Watchmen and Lanterns . . . . . .10 

Refining Silver, from Hoover (ed.), Agricola's De Re 

Metallica . . . . . . . . .11 

Old Market, Modern View . . , . .14 

St. Paul's Cathedral, London . . . . .21 

The Palace at Versailles — Gallery of Battles ... 28 

Westminster Abbey .30 

A Puritan , 33 

Charles I, by Van Dyck 34 

Archbishop Laud 36 

A Cavalier, after Calthrop ...... 38 

Oliver Cromwell ........ 39 

The Old Parliament House . . . . .44 

Sir Robert Walpole 47 

The Quadrangle, Somerset House (Eighteenth Century) . 53 
Caricature of a Macaroni, from Wright, Caricature History 

of the Georges 55 

General View, Palace of Versailles 65 

Colbert 66 

Louis XIV . 67 

Duke of Marlborough . . . . . . .69 

General View of the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia . . .71 

Peter the Great . • . . 72 

Maria Theresa Monument, Vienna . . . 78 

Frederick the Great 80 

Dutch Fishing Boats 87 

New Amsterdam 95 

Pitt, Earl of Chatham 103 

Independence Hall, Philadelphia . . . . ' 108 

Signatures, Treaty of Paris, 1783 110 

Newgate Prison, Eighteenth Century . . . .119 

Bow Street Police Court, from Ashton, The Dawn of the 

Nineteenth Century in England ..... 120 

John Howard 121 

xi 



Xll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . 

PAGE 

Elizabeth Fry Reading to Women in Prison . . . 122 

Voltaire 127 

Joseph II of Austria 131 

Meeting of the. States-General . . . . . . 138 

Park of Little Trianon (With Marie Antoinette's Dairy) 148 

Mirabeau 150 

Oath of the Tennis Court .152 

Place de la Bastille . . . . ■ . . . 153 

The Lion of Lucerne 159' 

Danton 160 

Robespierre . . . 164 

Napoleon 173 

An English Cartoon, The Handwriting on the Wall, from 

Wright, Caricature History of the Georges . . .175 

Napoleon in His Coronation Robes 177 

Nelson . . .180 

Arc de Triomphe 181 

Napoleon Threatening His Shipmaster because He Did Not 
Build Enough Ships to Run the English Blockade, from 

Wright, Caricature History of the Georges . . . 185 

Duke of Wellington 186 

"1814" 190 

Tomb of Napoleon 191 

Talleyrand .200 

Stein 203 

Congress of Vienna 210 

Metternich • .. . . .213 

Canning 215 

Spinning Yarn . . . ' . 224 

Old-fashioned Hand Loom 227 

Newcomen's Steam Engine ...... 233 

The "Puffing Billy" 237 

The Gleaners 249 

Making Pattern-Card for Jacquard Loom . . . . 254 

The Hdtel de Ville, Paris 268 

A Street Barricade . . . i • • • 269 

City Hall, Vienna 277 

Kossuth 279 

Mazzini . . . . . . • • • 283 

British Houses of Parliament ...... 294 

Cavour 296 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Xlll 

PAGE 

The Capitol, Rome, Italy 302 

Napoleon III 312 

Empress Eugenie 313 

The Old Tuileries 318 

The Count of Paris 327 

Chamber of Deputies in French Parliament . . . 329 

Gambetta •: 331 

Boulanger 332 

President Poincare 338 

The Bourse, Paris .342 

Crispi 346 

Pope Leo XIII 348 

Queen Wilhelmina of Holland 354 

King Albert of Belgium 356 

The Reichstag Building, Berlin 370 

Dropping the Pilot 375 

Port of Hamburg ........ 378 

Ringstrasse, Vienna, Showing Houses of Parliament . . 389 

Alexander II of Russia 400 

Hut and Peasants, Russia 403 

Count Witte 405 

The University, Helsingfors, Finland .... 406 

Winter Palace, Petrograd 409 

Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, Petrograd 413 

George III 420 

William Pitt the Younger 422 

Canvassing for Votes before 1832 425 

Lord Palmerston 432 

Sir Robert Peel 434 

John Bright 438 

William E. Gladstone 440 

Queen Victoria 446 

Joseph Chamberlain 450 

King George V . . . 452 

Meeting of Coalition Cabinet in Offices, Downing Street, 

London ......... 454 

Docks at Yarmouth with Herring Fleet .... 458 

Irish Cottages 406 

Parnell 470 

War Leaders — Foch, Lloyd George, Haig, Clemenceau, 

Joffre 478 



XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 



Bird's Eye View of Cairo, Egypt 480 

The Public Offices, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia . . 486 

Boers Trekking across River 489 

Cecil Rhodes 490 

Scene on Suez Canal 494 

Taj Mahal 498 

Great Iron Works, Hankow, China 509 

Yuan Shih-kai ' 514 

The Mikado Mutsihito . . . . . . . 518 

Port of Dalny . . m 520 

David Livingstone 527 

Henry M. Stanley ........ 528 

Water Front, Algiers 532 

Turkish Imperial Palace . 535 

Congress of Berlin 538 

Saloniki and the Harbor from the Hill .... 543 

Antwerp and the Scheldt River • . 554 

Naval Base, Toulon, France 558 

Delcasse 559 

Edward VII of England 560 

The Kiel Canal 561 

The Blessings of Peace (Cartoon) 568 

Market Place, Sarajevo, Bosnia 574 

American Relief Depot in Belgium 581 

The Lusitania ......... 592 

Peronne after Evacuation by the Germans, 1916 . . 597 

Shell Explosion 598 

German Prisoners Making Trenches 602 

Ship-building Plant at Newcastle on Tyne . ... 616 
Lisbon, Capital of the Republic of Portugal . . 621 
Parliament House, Berne, Switzerland . 623 
Municipal Buildings, Glasgow . . . . 627 
Cars on Municipal Railway in British City '. . . 632 
Wheat Elevators and Whaleback Ship for Wheat Trans- 
portation 639 

Shipping and Docks on the Thames, below London . . 641 

Largest Freighter in Use, 1916 643 

The Bank of England, London 645 

A French Lycee, Paris . 674 

Charles Darwin . . . 675 

Herbert Spencer . 677 



LIST OF MAPS 



COLOR MAPS 

PAGE 

Europe in the Early Seventeenth Century . opposite 1 

Europe after the Treaty of Utrecht (about 1720) " 70 

The World in 1763 ... . . following 104 

Southwestern Europe, 1789, 1802, 1807, 1810 . "182 

Europe after the Congress of Vienna . . 208 

Industrial Resources of England - . . opposite 234 

Growth of Prussia "310 

Europe, 1870 "318 

World Colonial Empires following 336 

Central-Western Europe in 1914 ... " 352 

The Races of Austria-Hungary . . . opposite 384 

The British Empire . . . ■ . . . following 482 

Africa in 1914 opposite 530 

The Dismemberment of Turkey ... " 538 

The Balkans in Recent Years, 1878, 1914 . " 544 

The Western Front — Railway and Trench Map " 598 
Physical and Economic Geography of Western 

and Central Europe following 648 



MAPS IN TEXT 

Eastern Boundaries of France . 
Partitions of Poland .... 

Region of the French Great Salt Tax 
Distribution of Population in England 
Unification of Italy .... 

The German Zollverein in 1867 
Territorial Growth of European Russia 
Ireland ...... 

Australia and New Zealand 

British India . 

China ..... 

Greater Japan 



68 
76 
143 
238 
300 
303 
397 
465 
487 
496 
511 
521 



xv 



XVI LIST OF MAPS 

PAGE 

The Alliances and the Ententes . 552 

The Battle of the Marne 583 

The War on the Eastern Front 586 

The War in Southeastern Europe 588 

The Italian Front 589 

The Western Front — Topographical Map . facing 599 

The Governments of Europe 619 

Iron and Coal Deposits of the Rhine Region . . . 648 



SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 

• 
The value of a textbook depends less on the book itself 
than upon the purpose for which it is used and upon the 
way in which it is used. This book differs from the older 
type of text in medieval and modern history in Several 
respects. First, it deals only with the last three centuries. 
Second, it devotes as much attention to the last fifty 
years as it does to the two preceding centuries, as much as 
most other textbooks do to the whole medieval period. 
Third, the historical account is socialized throughout in 
order that the events of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries, as well as those of the nineteenth, may be 
studied not simply as movements of those centuries but 
also in relation to the Europe of to-day and to America 
at the present time. Fourth, it gives more material than 
other high school textbooks do on social and economic con- 
ditions, occupations, and problems of twentieth century 
Europe. In short, as far as possible in an elementary 
text, the attempt has been made to prepare a book that 
really treats European civilization. 

To secure the best results from this book it is advisable 
that the teacher keep in mind these facts and the general 
purpose which the book is endeavoring to serve. In 
general, the longer the course the more satisfactory the 
results, because a fairly long course gives opportunity 
really to study topics and problems, to which the text 
gives an introduction. In such a long course different 
teachers will wish to put emphasis upon different subjects 
and methods. The book is admirably adapted for the 
further development of the subject in that way. 

xvii 



XVlll SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 

In schools which can give only a comparatively short 
course in modern European history, a teacher may either 
cover the whole book, or he may put the emphasis chiefly 
upon either the narrative material or on the descriptive 
accounts. For example, if time is lacking for a careful 
treatment of everything, certain sections and topics may 
first be read by the student and then taken up in class 
with the books open. The remainder of the text, includ- 
ing all summaries, may be studied more carefully. If such 
a class wishes to concentrate on the outline of the history 
rather than on the life of the different periods, compara- 
tively little attention need be given to sections 1-24, 44- 
52, 72-76, 94-106, 160-164, 178-184, 193-214, 268-273, 
277, 278, 287-293, 302, 303, 308, 309, 316-318, 338-342, 
353-355, 373, 378, 382, 395, 454, 456, 458-500. Possibly 
Chapters XVIII-XX, except sections 410^14, may be 
omitted altogether. 

On the contrary, if a class desires to emphasize the 
social changes rather than the narrative, it may content 
itself with reading most of the narrative sections, studying 
carefully only those listed below, in addition to the sum- 
maries or those that are chiefly descriptive : sections 28, 29, 
34, 37-40, 42, 59, 62-65, 68, 79-81, 83-92, 122-130, 137, 
142, 143, 149-158, 170-175, 217-226, 229, 237-240, 243, 
246, 254, 261-266, 276, 283-285, 296, 298-300, 307, 308, 
313, 314, 319-326, 334, 335, 342, 343, 346, 349-352, 410- 
414, 416-452. These plans of discrimination also make it 
possible to use this book with the author's Medieval Civil- 
ization for a regular year's course in medieval and modern 
history. The same scheme, however, should be applied 
to the medieval text in order that the last two thirds of 
the year may be given to the last three centuries. 

No one method is ever employed to the exclusion of 
any other, but the method to which chief attention is 
given must depend to some extent on both the purpose 



SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS XIX 

and the length of the course in which the book is used. 
Naturally the time of the class would be devoted more 
extensively to " recitation" in the first months of the 
year and on the more distinctively narrative sections. 
On the larger movements and on social conditions, it 
should be possible to follow the text less closely and to 
encourage more discrimination and more thought work. 
During the second half of the course question recitations 
should be replaced to some extent either by topic recita- 
tions or by development work. The latter should consist 
of series of questions which should lead to the develop- 
ment of a topic. If the development method is desirable, 
use should be made of all text material on the subject 
under consideration and of all earlier material on that 
topic, or those closely related to it ; some other facts and 
suggestions gathered from books of reference should be 
presented by students or the teacher. 

With a text of this kind there is little danger that 
classes will overlook the fact that modern European 
history is closely related to American life to-day. Com- 
parison of times past and present should be encouraged 
continually. The broader the teacher's grasp of present 
organization and problems, European and American, the 
more successful this type of work is likely to be. Before 
the author was obliged to complete this text, he was able 
fortunately to gather, in simple form, in The New Civics, 
material on the present organization, methods, policies, 
and problems of the American people. In writing that 
book he kept in mind continually the material which was 
likely to be presented in Modern European Civilization, 
and in developing his materials for this book he tried to 
develop that which was most valuable from the modern 
and American standpoints. He would therefore recom- 
mend that, in connection with the use of this volume, 
teachers consider the fact that the two books are supple- 



XX SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 

mentary, that, whenever necessary, use be made of The 
New Civics, and that students be urged to make extended 
comparisons between conditions in Europe and America. 

The following books are recommended for reference in 
connection with the text. Duplicate copies of especially 
valuable books are frequently preferable to a larger 
number of titles. 

A SMALL LIBRARY 

Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe. 

Hazen, Modern European History. 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, 2 vols. 

Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, 

Vol. II. 
Cheyney, Short History of England. 
Matthews, The French Revolution. 
Harding, Study of the Great War (20 cents). 
Ashley, The New Civics. 
Robertson and Bartholomew, A Historical Atlas of Modern 

Europe from 1789 to 1914. 

A MEDIUM-SIZED LIBRARY 

(In addition to the above) 

Adams, European History. 

Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern Europe. 

Ogg, Economic Development of Modern Europe. 

Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution. 

Day, History of Commerce. 

Herrick, History of Commerce and Industry. 

Fyffe, History of Modern Europe. 

Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814- 

Andrews, Historical Development of Modern Europe. 

Bland, Brown, and Tawney, English Economic History — Select 

Documents. 
Slater, The Making of Modern England. 
Cross, History of England and Greater Britain. 
Montague, Elements of English Constitutional History. 
Prothero, English Farming, Past and Present. 
Ogg, Governments of Europe. 



SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS XXI 

Tower, Germany of To-Day. 
Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII. 
Seymour, Diplomatic Background of the War. 
Gibbons, The New Map of Europe. 
Foster, American Diplomacy in the Orient. 
Shepherd, Historical Atlas. 

A GOOD-SIZED LIBRARY 

(In addition to the above) 

Hassell, The Balance of Power. 

Warner, Landmarks of English Industrial History. 

Sydney, England and the English in the Eighteenth Century, 2 vols. 

Beard (ed.), Introduction to the English Historians. 

Woodward, The Expansion of the British Empire. 

Lucas, The British Empire (six lectures). 

Holderness, Peoples and Problems of India. 

Seignobos, History of Medieval and Modern Civilization. 

Seignobos, History of Contemporary Civilization. 

Johnston, The French Revolution. 

Johnston, Napoleon, A Short Biography. 

Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI and Atlas. 

Bracq, France under the Third Republic. 

Guerard, French Civilization in the Nineteenth Century. 

Wallace, Greater Italy. 

Fife, The German Empire between Two Wars. 

Traill and Mann (eds.), Social England, Vols. V and VI. 

Hayes (ed.), British Social Politics. 1 

Skrine, Expansion of Russia. 

Wilson, The State. 

Lowell, The Governments of France, Italy, and Germany. 

Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics of the Far East. 

Porter, The Full Recognition of Japan. 

Gibbons, The New Map of Africa. 

Forbes, et al., The Balkans, A History. 

Cheradame, The Pan-German Plot Unmasked. 

Hauser, Germany's Commercial Grip on the World. 

Johnston, Topography and Strategy of the Great War. 

Simonds, et al, The History of the World War. 

Howe, The British City. 

Whelpley, The Trade of the World. 



XXll SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 

Rubinow, Social Insurance. 

Phillips, Poland. 

Ensor, Belgium. 

Zimmern, Italy of the Italians. 

Boulger, Belgium of the Belgians. 

Boulger, Holland of the Dutch. 

Barker, Modern Germany, Her Political and Economic Problems. 

Kilner, Arnold, and Delisle, Austria of the Austrians and Hungary 

of the Hungarians. 
Palmer, Austro- Hungarian Life in Town and Country. 
Alden (ed.), Hungary of To-day. 
Williams, Russia of the Russians. 
Ross, Russia in Upheaval. 
Alden, Democratic England. 
Dubois, Contemporary Ireland 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



CHAPTER I 



EUROPE IN THE EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 
Political Europe 



1. The Map of Europe. — A comparison of a map of 
Europe in 1600 with one of that continent in 1914 shows 
more similarities than differences. Western Europe was 
much the same then as now, 1 although at that time Eng- 
land and Scotland were still separate kingdoms and Ire- 
land had not yet been united with them to form the 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 

In central and southeastern Europe we find that great 
changes have taken place. Three centuries ago the center 
of Europe was occupied by the huge, loosely united feudal 
state generally known as the Holy Roman Empire. What 
is now the kingdom of Italy was then a group of separate 
states, two of which, Venice and Genoa, were still re- 
publics. In east-central Europe there were two states, 
Lith-u-a'ni-a and Poland, which no longer appear upon 
the map as separate countries. 

The Turks controlled all southeastern Europe in the 
early seventeenth century. The map of that day did 
not show any separate states or principalities correspond- 
ing to Rumania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece, since the 
people of all those countries as well as most of Hungary 
and southern Russia were under Turkish rule. 

E. E. C. = Ashley, Early European Civilization. 
1 In 1600 Portugal was temporarily united with Spain. 
B 1 



Compari- 
sons, 1600 
and 1914. 
Western 
Europe. 



Central 
Europe. 



South- 
eastern 
Europe. 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Northern 
and east- 
ern Europe. 



Relation of 
noble to 
king in the 
Middle 

Ages. 



Beginnings 
of the 
monarchies. 



Divine 
right of 
monarchs 
in France 
and Eng- 
land (XVII 
Century). 



In northern and eastern Europe we find the same names 
as to-day but a somewhat different division of territory. 
The kingdom of Sweden then included Finland, later a 
part of Russia. The Russia of that day governed about 
three fourths of the area in Europe that Russia did in 
1914. In Asia it covered only a small part of the great 
distance to the Pacific Ocean and the Persian Gulf. 

2. Historical Development of the Absolute Monarchies. 
— During the centuries preceding the Renaissance and the 
Reformation, central and western Europe was divided 
into a number of areas, each of which was ruled by a king. 
No one of these kings was an absolute monarch, but 
usually each was the most important noble of his country. 
He could call upon the other nobles to furnish him sol- 
diers in time of war and give him necessary help in other 
ways. These nobles were free to render this service to 
the king or not as they pleased. Within their own do- 
mains therefore the great nobles of these countries ruled 
rather than the king. 1 

During the latter part of the Middle Ages, especially 
in France and England, the kings tried to break down the 
authority of the nobles and to make themselves more 
powerful. Not until about 1450, however, did they, 
in France, England, and Spain, finally gain such power 
that they rather than the nobles actually ruled. In the 
three quarters of a century preceding the Protestant 
Reformation, Louis XI in France, Henry VII in Eng- 
land, and Ferdinand I in Spain really united their dominions 
and consolidated the royal authority? 

The successors of these men in France and Spain added 
continually to their power . until they became absolute 
monarchs. In France this story belongs rather to the 
seventeenth century than to the preceding epoch. With 
the death of Elizabeth, the English Tudor house came to 
1 E. E. C, §§ 478-479. * E. E. C, §§ 646-650. 



POLITICAL EUROPE 3 

an end, and a new line of monarchs, the Stuarts, came to 
the throne. The struggle between the Stuarts, who upheld 
their divine right to rule, and the people, who demanded 
some share in the government, is the story of England 
in the seventeenth century. 

3. Absolutism and Liberty on the Continent. — It Arbitrary 
must not be imagined that, because we call these monarchs r! ^her than 
absolute, they really were all-powerful. To be sure, rule of the 
they did not need to call upon representatives of the ngs " 
nobles and the townsmen to help them make the laws ; 
instead they contented themselves with issuing procla- 
mations directly or through their councils. Their rule 

was not so much absolute, however, as it was arbitrary, 
because neither noble nor townsman nor peasant was free 
from arbitrary interference by the king and his agents. 

The authority of the absolute monarchs was limited Special 
in part, especially in France and Spain, by the special ofp ro e y_ es 
privileges enjoyed by the provinces of their kingdoms. 1 inces, 
In the seventeenth century many cities also still had ^j^e S an 
many rights which they had gained in the Middle Ages. 
Even smaller villages were allowed a share in their own 
government which reminds us of the medieval English 
manor. We can see from this brief summary that, even 
if the common people were free, the centralized and ab- 
solute government of the king left them few rights in 
addition to those enjoyed under the self-governing cities 
or communes. 

4. English Central Government. — Since the United Arbitrary 
States grew out of English colonies, the government of Sudors 
which in turn was influenced by the central and local through 

Parliament 
1 "When the different duchies, counties, and other provinces had been and the 
united into countries by the kings of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- Privy 
turies, these provinces were allowed to retain a large number of customs Uounci • 
and privileges. The provincial privileges were survivals of old rights of 
government enjoyed by these principalities when the nobles acknowledged 
their king not as a sovereign, but simply as an overlord. (Cf. § 113.) 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Local 

government 
in England 
(1600). 



"Rights of 
English- 
men." 



governments of the mother country, we must study es- 
pecially the government of England in the beginning of 
the seventeenth century. Although the monarch really 
ruled England, the king or queen governed through the 
Parliament and the Privy Council, for, under the Tudors, 
who ruled until 1603, these bodies were the tools of the 
monarchs. Henry VIII and Elizabeth, wishing to govern 
arbitrarily, had dominated Parliament ; usually they had 
persuaded Parliament to do as they desired until the 
later years of Elizabeth's reign. The Stuart kings l 
found that Parliament was very far from being the tool 
that it had been for Henry VIII or Elizabeth. 

5. Local Government and Individual Liberty in Eng- 
land. — In the local government of England the local aris- 
tocracy had considerable influence. The counties were 
ruled by justices of the peace, selected from the landed 
aristocracy by the king. The smaller districts, the 
parishes, had an assembly of rate-payers to levy taxes and 
elect parish officers, the only important local self-govern- 
ment of Tudor England. 2 

Although Englishmen had more liberties than people 
on the Continent, the term did not mean very much in 
1600, in spite of Magna Carta and the system of jury 
trial. But, in time, more rights were gained by Eng- 
lishmen. 3 

1 See Chapter II. 

2 The county system was transplanted bodily to Virginia and to some 
other southern colonies. The parish meeting was modified by the Puri- 
tans in New England and survives in the New England town meeting. 

3 When the colonists later gained a larger share of self-government, it 
was worth while to claim the rights which had been guaranteed by the 
colonial charters. For these reasons much was said in America about 
the "rights of Englishmen" in the stirring years before our Revolution- 
ary War. 

It is interesting to notice that out of the semi-medieval English 
conditions in 1600 there was developed in England, within a century, a 
political revolution, that of 1688, which made England a comparatively 
modern country, politically, and that there occurred among Englishmen 



LORDS AND PEASANTS 5 

Lords and Peasants 

6. Position and Privileges of the Nobles. — In cen- Political 

tral and eastern Europe the nobles had practically absolute F° wer ° f 

i i • ■ i o i i i • the nobl ea 

control over the lives and property of the people on their 

estates. Most of the laws were made by them, although 
occasionally the customs of the localities limited these 
powers and gave the villeins and even the serfs some rights. 
When a peasant was accused of an offense, he was tried 
in the court of the noble. Even if he were condemned 
to die, he might not appeal to his king or to a higher court. 
The lord had also the right to levy taxes and to collect 
other charges from his people and from travelers. 

Before the close of the Middle Ages the lords in France The oid- 
and England had lost their right to levy and collect taxes English 6 
and to dispense justice as they pleased, 1 but the English squire. 
squire of that day was of course the big man of his vil- 
lage. He owned or controlled most of the land on which 
the village stood and which his tenant cultivated. The 
church had probably been built by his predecessors, and 
he had the right to appoint the curate of the parish. He 
was expected and usually was willing to attend divine 
service, even though he slept through most of it. When 
the services were over, he was allowed to leave the chapel 
first, his people uncovering and court esying before him. 
He spent most of his time on his own estate, rarely 
traveling abroad, and occasionally entertaining his friends 
with fox hunting or some similar sport. He had the 
right to hold any county office, and if he were appointed 

in America, within a century and three quarters, a greater revolution, 
which represents even more perfectly the national democracy of the 
modern world. 

1 Before the beginning of the seventeenth century there were few lords 
in either England or France who could decide cases even between tenants 
on their own estates and make that decision final if either tenant wished 
to carry the case to the next higher court, which in England usually was 
presided over by justices of the peace. 



6 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Social 

position 

of the 

greater 

French 

nobles. 



The open 
field 

system of 
strips. 



Villeins 
and serfs. 
Obligations 
of villeins. 



as justice of the peace, could not refuse although the 
position carried no salary. He might even be honored 
by election to Parliament by the voters of the county 
in which he lived. 

The French monarchs, particularly from the time of 
Francis I and Henry IV, gained many of the political 
rights of the nobles. They allowed the lords who had 
formerly ruled their local estates to build magnificent 
chateaux, in which they gave lavish entertainments, or 
to attend those given by the king. Louis XIV carried 
this idea very much farther (§ 55). 

7. Agriculture and Villeinage. — In the seventeenth 
century, as in the Middle Ages, most people lived in 
villages on the estates of the lords and cultivated the sur- 
rounding fields. It was customary to divide the culti- 
vated land into three great fields. In any year one of 
these would be planted to wheat, another to barley, and 
the third would remain uncultivated. The next year 
each field would be used for a different purpose. Each 
of these large fields in turn was subdivided into strips, 
which were very much longer than they were wide and 
contained about an acre apiece. Approximately one 
third of the strips belonged to the noble. 

The peasants who were practically free were called 
villeins; they usually had the right to cultivate about 
thirty acres in strips widely separated, possibly ten in 
each field. The villeins owed a fixed amount of work to 
the lord, usually two or three days a week with additional 
time at planting season and harvest, together with such 
payments as a number of chickens on certain days of the 
year. Other peasants were serfs who were bought and 
sold with the land. Each serf family had its own cottage 
and garden, with four or five acre strips in addition. 

By the beginning of the seventeenth century villeinage 
had practically disappeared from England. Those farm- 



LORDS AND PEASANTS 7 

'ers who remained on the estates of the nobles usually The 
cultivated separate strips in open fields in common with ^nanf 1 
their neighbors, and they paid for this land a very much farmer, 
higher rent than their great-grandfathers had been obliged 
to pay. 1 Because of the high rents and other agrarian 
changes a great many of the former tenants had moved 
to the cities, attracted thither also by the business oppor- 
tunities of the growing towns. 2 

8. Serfdom. — In eastern, central, and southern Europe 
and in the Spanish peninsula practically all peasants were 
still serfs. In fact, the ancestors of these people had 
been serfs during the Middle Ages. 

The lot of the serf was an unhappy one. He was not 
a slave, for he could not be sold except with the -land, 
but he was in no real sense free, since he must spend prac- Extent 
tically his whole time working for the lord, such days and ^om'on 
in such ways as the noble demanded. To be sure he the Con- 
was allowed some time for cultivating his own strips of tment - 
land, but he was likely to be called upon by the noble Conditions 
to plow or to weed, or to cut or thresh grain, at a time ° er f s e 
when he should have been doing those things for himself. 
Moreover, in eastern Germany, in Russia, in Austria, 
and to some extent in southern Europe, the boys and 
girls of serf families were compelled to spend a number of 
years in the house of the noble doing menial work, often 
without pay of any kind. 

9. Country Life. — As stated above, the people lived 
in small villages, usually at the foot of the hill below the 
manor house of the lord. Because it had been impossible 
in the Middle Ages for people to live on scattered farms 

i E. E. C, §§ 664, 720. 

2 In France the villein did not become a free man as in England, nor 
was he able usually to pay for his land in money. Later we shall study 
rather carefully the condition of the French peasants of the late 
eighteenth century (§§ 119, 199), and the changes in a century and a 
half before that time were not important. 



8 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Life in 
villages 
except for 
cotters. 



Houses 
and their 
furniture. 



Food 
and drink. 



without great danger from marauders, there were com- 
paratively few scattered dwellings except those of " squat- 
ters/' who had built huts upon the waste lands of the 
estates. In England these " cotters" were permitted, .by 
a law of Elizabeth, to have not more than four acres 
of land. 

The rest of the " country " people occupied huts or 
cottages on the village street, each cottage having its 
own garden plot. The homes were, of course, less crude 
than those occupied by the forefathers of these people 
in the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, they were small, not 
very clean, and rather dark, since glass was seldom or 
never found in the windows. Dirt floors were still 
common, and rushes were used to a considerable extent in- 
stead of carpets. In cottages of the better class, as in the 
houses of the ordinary burgher, the floors were of stone 
or wood. Chimneys had come into use to some extent, 
even in the homes of the common people, but cooking 
was frequently done out of doors. The people slept on 
straw beds without springs and frequently without bed- 
steads. The furniture was simple and usually home-made, 
as were the wooden trenchers and other utensils used in 
cooking and eating. 

For the common people there was still too little food, 
although vegetables added abundance as well as variety 
to the average meal. Since the Dutch and the English 
fishermen made frequent trips to the North Sea fishing 
banks (§ 73), and the French and the English fishermen 
were bringing back cod and herring from similar banks 
off Newfoundland (§ 74), even the common people could 
afford to eat fish more frequently than in earlier centuries. 
Home-brewed beer or ale or mead was consumed in large 
quantities, sometimes serving for food as well as drink. 
In years of plenty food was abundant, yet on the Conti- 
nent, where the excessive number of tolls (§15) made 



economic 
renaissance 



LORDS AND PEASANTS 9 

it impossible to carry grain any considerable distance, 
local famines occurred on an average every third or fourth 
year. 

Business and the Towns 

10. The Large Cities. — The Renaissance, the discov- The 
ery of America, and the opening of new sea routes to 
the East caused business to expand greatly. Commerce and the 
between European -nations prospered, and there was Jjj-Jj^ ° 
far more trade between Europe and the peoples of 
the far East and the New World than in previous cen- 
turies. This expansion of business led to the growth of 
towns and cities. 1 During the sixteenth century Antwerp 
had developed into a great commercial center. When 
it was almost destroyed by the Spanish in 1576, its trade 
was taken over by other towns, such as Amsterdam. 

The development of England as a sea power during Growth of 
this period was due to her interest in colonization both En ° llsh 

trade and 

in America and in India and to her defeat of the great of London 
Spanish Armada ; 2 it was reflected particularly in the 
growth of the country's principal city, London. When 
Elizabeth became queen, in 1558, London had fewer 
than 100,000 inhabitants. Even then she was one of the 
largest cities, if not the largest, of western Europe. At 
the opening of the seventeenth century her population 
had almost doubled, and within two years after the Resto- 
ration (1660) she boasted a population estimated at a 
little less than a half million. 3 

1 The medieval towns were small and none had a population that 
would compare with that of the modern city. In them were gathered 
artisans who usually belonged to craft gilds (E. E. C, § 557). Other 
gilds were made up of tradesmen or merchants who controlled the sale of 
certain articles within the town or the trade in those articles between 
towns. There was little international trade in the early Middle Ages. 

2 E. E. C, § 699. 

3 No other European capital had as large a population as London. 
Even as late as 1801, at the beginning of the brilliant Napoleonic regime, 



10 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Like their medieval predecessors these cities had rather 
narrow streets, which either were not improved at all 
or were paved very badly. Sidewalks were uncommon, 
and even to-day, in some of the older European cities, 
they are still practically unknown. Streets were not 

lighted at night and 
were patrolled usually 
by guards known as 
the "watch" (§94). 
A police force could 
quell actual disturb- 
ances, but was not 
able to stop street 
fighting or protect the 
unwary citizens who 
ventured forth un- 
armed or unguarded 
after nightfall. As a 
rule the only attrac- 
tive buildings were the 
houses of the nobles, many of whom had their town 
houses at the national capital as well as manor houses 
or castles on one or more country estates. The houses 
of the poor were tenements several stories in height 
with few windows ; they were made less desirable for 
habitation by their filth and general unsanitary condi- 
tion. 

11. Industry Three Centuries Ago. — We must keep 
in mind that, whereas to-day goods are made by large 
corporations, some of which have immense capital, huge 

there were only 547,000 inhabitants in Paris. Vienna, which at this 
period was the home of the emperor and the most important capital in 
Europe, contained with its suburbs in 1800 but 231,000. Two centuries 
earlier its population was considerably less than that of either Paris or 
London. In 1600 Berlin was small and the name Pet'ro-grad (St. Peters- 
burg) did not appear on the map. 




Watchmen and Lanterns 



BUSINESS AND THE TOWNS 



11 



buildings, and thousands of workers (§ 480), in those days, 
even in the cities, the small shop of a master with a few 
assistants was the rule, even where the gild system no 
longer existed. Usually the people of the larger cities 
were interested in commerce rather than in industry. 

At that time there were no manufacturing cities which Localized 
devoted their energy to steel and iron trade, as do Pitts- "J dustnes 

OJ ; m oi seven- 

burgh in America and Sheffield and Leeds in England teenth 

to-day, although Lyons and some cities of south central century - 
France were noted for their metal wares. The towns gave 
more attention to the weaving of cloth, always the most im- 
portant industry of Flanders in northern Belgium, than 
to any other single industry. Those in England and 
northern Europe specialized in the weaving of wool. Some 
of those in southern France and Italy were particularly 
skillful in the weaving of silks, and in a few places fine 
cotton goods were made on a limited scale. Some of 
the towns of France were already beginning to specialize 
in fine pottery. Paris in that day took the lead in creat- 
ing new styles in hats. She was also famous for her 
chocolate. In the Middle Ages and until the late eight- 
eenth or early nine- 
teenth centuries, and 
even at the present 
time in eastern 
Europe, household 
industries were com- 
mon (§ 179). 

During the six- 
teenth century man- 
ufacturing, com- 
merce, agriculture, 
and standards of 
living were much 

affected by a great Refining Silver 




The era 
of high 
prices. 



12 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



change in the value of money. In the Middle Ages 
money had been scarce and consequently prices had 
been low. With the importation from America of large 
quantities of silver and gold, and the opening of new 
silver mines in Germany, Spain, and southern France, 
the precious metals became much more common and 
prices rose to three or four times what they had been. 
Of course some people made large profits ; others suffered 
extraordinary hardships. 1 We complained because prices 
rose 50 per cent in the twenty years before the beginning 
of the Great War. What would we have thought of a 
change several times as great? 

12. The Gilds. — The medieval cities had been hives 
of industry, carried on usually by the craft gilds. With 
the expansion of business in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries, it was impossible for the gilds to play as large 
a part as formerly in the manufacture and sale of dif- 
ferent commodities. By the close of Elizabeth's reign 
the gilds of England had ceased to have an important 
place in the business life of that nation. They main- 
tained their organizations in some cases for two centuries 
or more, but most goods were thereafter produced at 
home and much business was done by chartered com- 
panies. On the Continent, however, the gilds continued 
to be important. 2 

1 Those who owned land, who could and did increase their rents 
(E. E. C. §§ 664-665) were fortunate, but their tenants were not. Those 
tenants, as in many parts of France, who continued to pay a customary 
rent made a large profit on their crops, as the price of foods and other 
commodities rose several fold. Laborers and others whose wages rose 
slowly therefore had lower standards of living than formerly. 

2 In the' Netherlands and Germany the gilds were more powerful and 
continued for a century or two longer to control both the making and the 
sale of goods. In France the gilds were encouraged and were organized 
into large companies, chiefly for the purpose of furnishing revenues to the 
king. They lost some of their former business to chartered companies 
or to other capitalists who carried on industry on a larger scale than 
was known in the Middle Ages. 



BUSINESS AND THE TOWNS 13 

Besides their problems due to the rise of the monarchies Some 
and the growth of new industries, the gilds fought one th™riids° f 
another. The shoemakers objected when the cobblers 
made and sold new shoes instead of doing repair work 
exclusively. In Paris the meat cooks quarreled suc- 
cessfully at first with the gild cooks but unsuccessfully 
later with the poulterers. The French haberdashery 
corporation tried at the same time to get royal permis- 
sion to make and sell new kinds of hats and to keep 
rival gilds from making substitute forms of headgear. 
The gilds not only quarreled with one another, but they 
sometimes fought with brotherhoods of workmen. 

13. Government Regulation of Industry. — During Beginnings 
the Middle Ages the gilds rather than the king's govern- regulation* 
ment regulated the method of manufacture for different by the 
articles and prescribed the minimum quality of goods government 
that might be sold by members of the craft. Under the in the 
three Edwards in England, regulations were introduced A g eSi 

to control both the manufacture and the exportation and 
importation of goods. These early tariffs placed duties 
on wools and wines. 

In France as in England royal supervision was devel- Govem- 
oped largely for the purpose of bringing the king revenues. J^nsln 1 " 
At the beginning of the seventeenth century regulation France, 
by the royal government was not onerous, but we shall 
see later (§ 56) how under Colbert, the great minister of 
Louis XIV, supervision of manufacture and of trade was 
carried to an extreme, even to defining the width of cloth 
and the number of threads per inch. Colbert's complete 
regulations filled several volumes and left the masters 
little opportunity to improve methods. In central and 
eastern Europe the regulation of industry was still con- 
trolled by the gilds rather than by the governments. 

14. The Bourgeoisie. — The name bourgeoisie (boor- 
zhwa-ze') is given to the business class which developed 



14 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Growth 
of the 
burgess 
class and 
its 
influence. 



Bourgeoisie 
demands 
for 

position 
and privi- 
leges. 



Markets 
and fairs 
in the 

seventeenth 
century. 



in burgs or cities. The expansion of business and the 
new commercial opportunities during the Renaissance 
made it possible for some of these merchants, especially 
those who enjoyed monopolies or other royal favors, to 
amass fortunes which were far beyond the wildest dreams 
of the medieval craftsman or merchant. 

Rich as the bourgeoisie became and powerful as they 
were in the new branches of manufacturing, in commerce, 
and in banking, they frequently failed to gain the privi- 
leges which were even more to them than money. In 
France, for example, the so-called Hu'gue-not Wars were 
to a great extent due to the controversies between the old 
nobility, which was striving to keep its ancient privileges, 
prestige, and power, and the new merchant class, whose 
members sought to secure a social position corresponding 
to their wealth. It was impossible for a merchant to 
secure an invitation to the French court. 

15. Local and National Trade. — Everywhere in 
Europe during the early part of the seventeenth century 




Old Market, Modern View 



BUSINESS AND THE TOWNS 15 

the local trade showed characteristics -similar to those 
that distinguished it in the Middle Ages. 1 The people 
of the villages still paid a large part or the whole of their 
rents in grain or other products. The remainder of the 
goods which they produced they either used themselves 
or they brought to a common place called a market, where 
on one or two days in a week the villagers and their friends 
gathered. Wheat might be exchanged for hay, or a pig 
for cloth, or a pair of shoes for a cask of ale. In these 
later days, when a wholesale merchant might have a 
larger business than had been possible in the Middle 
Ages, less attention was paid to the fairs, which were so 
prominent a characteristic of general trade in medieval 
times. 2 

Trade between English communities had always been Slow devei- 
comparatively free from tolls or dues. On the Continent, National ° 
however, in the early seventeenth century as in the Middle trade. 
Ages, trade between the different villages was hampered 
by tolls, which were collected at the borders of each estate. 
Consequently by 1600 national trade, that is, trade between 
distant parts of a country, had not developed greatly, al- 
though later in the seventeenth century some tolls were 
abolished. 3 A great many highways were built, and some 
canals were constructed. 

1 E. E. C, §§ 560-561. 

s Even in England the fair at Stourbridge (E. E. C, § 562) was held 
throughout the seventeenth century and far into the eighteenth. On 
the Continent fairs continued to be a general means of exchanging prod- 
ucts at a later date than in England, and in Russia fairs were rather 
common until very recent times. 

3 In France these unnecessary and objectionable regulations were 
abolished to some extent in the sixteenth century. For example by 
the ordinance of 1505 the tolls on the Loire (Lwar) river were re- 
duced agaiD to about 150 as in the Middle Ages (E. E. C, p. 473). 
Later (1571) the number was supposed to be limited to 7 and the river 
was to be freed from dams, obstructing piers, and other obstacles to navi- 
gation. Few tolls were abolished, however, before the time of Colbert 
(§ 56). Even in France a great many tolls existed, except on the main 



16 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Eastern 16. General Trade. — National trade, 1 as well as that 

Europeans. w ^h ^ ne East anc ^ w ^h American colonies, developed con- 
siderably after the Renaissance. Trade with the East 
was carried on more extensively at this time than in the 
Middle Ages, because goods were now carried chiefly in 
vessels which sailed from European ports, especially in 
the Netherlands, direct to India and the East Indies. 
Enormous profits were made upon the spices, teas, 
silks, cotton goods, sugar, and other commodities brought 
from the far East, usually via the Cape of Good Hope. 2 
In 1600 the English organized the famous East India 
Company, which established factories or trading posts on 
the shores of India and gained a share in the lucrative 
Eastern trade. 3 

highways, until long after Colbert's time. In Prussia tolls were not 
removed to any great extent until the time of Frederick the Great, and in 
general in central and southern Europe the abolition of medieval tolls 
did not take place until the last part of the eighteenth century or the early 
decades of the nineteenth. 

1 There was little trade among the European nations before the Renais- 
sance. The modern national tariff was unnecessary in the medieval period 
for that reason and because there were no real nations at that time. 
With the development of the monarchies, however, and the. need of 
revenues, duties were collected upon all goods brought into each country 
from any other European nation, or from countries in the far East, or 
from colonies in the New World. The main object of course was revenue, 
but an important object, especially during the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries, was the development of a new national policy called the mer- 
cantilist system (E. E. C, § 727). The root idea of mercantilism was that a 
country becomes rich if it increases its supply of gold and silver. 

2 During the Middle Ages this Asiatic trade was largely in the hands 
of the Saracens and the merchants of Venice and Genoa. In the later 
sixteenth century it had been almost monopolized by the Portuguese. 
In the later sixteenth and in the seventeenth centuries it was monopolized 
almost as much by the Dutch, but the English and French also sought a 
share in this eastern trade. 

3 The French had some trading posts on the coasts of the peninsula of 
Hindustan. The Dutch controlled not only the way station at the Cape 
of Good Hope, but also the Island of Ceylon and many of the East India 
islands themselves. The Portuguese still kept the Spice Islands, the 
Mo-luc'cas, and some of the other East Indies, although their trade had 

> declined rapidly before 1600. 



BUSINESS AND THE TOWNS 17 

17. Trade with the American Colonies. — In the early Articles 
seventeenth century there was a growing trade between J^^^ ed 
Europe arid the A merican colonies. The most important icainthe 
commodities imported from the New World were the pre- ^ c ^ even ' 
cious metals, from the Spanish colonies of Mexico and century. 
Peru ; sugar, from Brazil, which belonged to Portugal, and 

from the Spanish, Dutch, and French colonies in the West 
Indies ; tobacco, from the West Indies and later from Vir- 
ginia ; fish, from Newfoundland ; and furs, which later were 
imported in large quantities from New Amsterdam and the 
French settlements along the St. Lawrence river. This 
colonial trade, which grew to considerable proportions and 
was of very great importance in the eighteenth century, 
will be described more fully in Chapter IV. We should 
note here, however, that no American colony was per- 
mitted to trade with any European country that it pleased ; 
it was forced to trade almost exclusively with its own 
mother country (§ 81). 

Religious and Social Conditions 

18. The Medieval Church and the Reformation. — In Organiza- 
the seventeenth century, as at the present time, southern tlon a n ° 
Europe was Roman Catholic, northern Europe with the medieval 
exception of Ireland was Protestant, and eastern Europe Church - 
was Greek Catholic. It will be remembered that during 

the Middle Ages there was only one Church in western 
and central Europe. 1 This Church was a highly organized 
body under the Pope, bishops, and lesser clergy. It was 
not only a religious organization, but it controlled a large 
part of the land, cared for travelers, education, the poor, 
and performed numerous other duties now attended to by 
governments. There had been protests against the secu- 
lar power and to some extent against the religious uni- 
formity maintained by the medieval Church. Among 

1 E. E. C, Chap. XVIII. 
C 



18 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



these were the movements led by Wyclif in England * 
and by Huss in Bohemia. 2 

In the early part of the sixteenth century an upheaval 
occurred within the Church. This was due to many 
causes other than those distinctively religious : the rise of 
the monarchies, the new learning of the Renaissance, the 
demand that the Church should give less of its energy to 
secular interests, disgust with the abuses which had crept 
into the Church's administration of affairs, and the general 
desire of the time for change. This upheaval or revolu- 
tion we call the Reformation} It was led by Martin 
Luther, who in 1517 made the first decided break with the 
papacy by fastening on the church door of Wittenberg 
95 theses against the sale of indulgences. Other leaders 
of the Protestant movement were Zwingli (Tswing'li) 
in Switzerland and John Calvin, a Frenchman who spent 
most of his life in Switzerland. 

The Protestant movement spread rapidly during the 
forty years following Luther's first attack; its progress 
was checked by a Counter-Reformation 4 within the older 
Church. The opposition to Protestantism was led chiefly 
by a new military order known as the " Society of Jesus," 
which was founded by Ig-na'ti-us Loy-o'la about 1540, 
and whose members are called Jesuits. 

19. The Roman Catholic Church. — In the early part 
of the seventeenth century five countries were still predom- 
inantly or absolutely Roman Catholic. These were Portu- 
gal, Spain, France, " Austria," and " Italy." The reli- 
gious organization of the Roman Catholic Church was 
similar to that which existed in the Middle Ages and which 
prevails to-day. The head was the Pope, who was selected 
by a council of cardinals usually from the Italian clergy. 
Because of the Reformation his religious authority ex- 



* E. E. c, § 619. 

»E. E. C, §§ 676-681. 



2 E. E. C. 
4 E. E. C. 



§620. 

§§ 687-689. 



RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 19 

tended over a smaller area than had that of his medieval 
predecessors, but it was otherwise unimpaired. His secular 
authority on the contrary had been reduced greatly since 
the days when Innocent III 1 not only wielded great tem- 
poral power but claimed to be overlord of all European 
monarchs. 

In the early seventeenth century the Roman Catholic Lands, rev- 
Church owned a large amount of land, most of which it f nu . es > and 

° , ; business 

let out to villeins or cultivated by the labor of serfs. In of Church 
many Catholic states of Germany and in a few other ^gamza- 
countries, some of the church lands, particularly those be- 
longing to the religious orders, had been secularized (fre- 
quently a polite name for confiscated) by the different 
rulers. 2 In addition to the produce or money rents se- 
cured from these lands, the church received from its mem- 
bers the great tithe and the lesser tithe, 3 as well as other 
contributions of different kinds. Attention was given 
by the Church to education and to dispensing charity 
or caring for the sick in the hospitals, which increased 
considerably in number during the seventeenth century. 4 

20. Church and State in France and Germany. — The Independ- 
clergy of France had always been distinguished for their 
independent attitude toward the papacy. We see evi- church 
dences of this during the barbarian invasions, 5 in connec- r^ iqqq 11 
tion with the Babylonian Captivity, 6 and especially in the 
Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (Bourzh) (1438). In 1516, 

1 E. E. c„ § 533. 

2 In practically all Protestant countries, property of the old church 
was either taken over by the new churches or appropriated (secularized) 
by the government. 

3 E. E. C, § 521. 

4 Since the religious orders were less important than in the Middle 
Ages, comparatively little business was transacted in and by the monas- 
teries (E. E. C, §§ 505-512), although the Jesuits were engaged in trade 
and had commercial and banking houses not only in European cities but 
in the New World. 

5 E. E. C, §425. «E. E. C, §618. 



ence of the 
French 



20 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



the year before Luther posted his theses at Wittenberg, 
Francis I of France made a concordat with the Pope by 
which the French Church remained Catholic but continued 
its independent position under the control of the king. 

In 1600 Germany included not only most of the German 
Empire of to-day, but also Austria proper and some other 
territories. It was divided into many states — kingdoms, 
principalities, free cities, and a large number of petty 
ecclesiastical or secular districts — each of which wished to 
be self-governing and was to a large extent independent. 
In the early part of the seventeenth century 1 a great 
politico -religious controversy broke out which lasted for 
three decades, and is known therefore as the Thirty Years' 
War. It ended with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), 2 
which secured for the princes of each state or for each 
town the right to keep, as its own religion, any one of the 
three faiths, Catholic, Lutheran, or Calvinist. 

21. The Anglican Church. — In England more than 
in any other Protestant country the break with Rome was 
the work not of the people under religious leaders, but 
of the king. It will be remembered that when Henry VIII 
wished to divorce Catharine of Aragon and the Pope with- 
held his consent, Henry secured a divorce through an Eng- 
lish court and had Parliament pass an Act of Supremacy 3 
which made him head of the English Church instead of the 
Pope. Henry suppressed the monasteries throughout 
the country, but it must not be supposed that he intro- 
duced reforms which made England really Protestant. 

1 In 1555, by the Peace of Augsburg (E. E. C, § 681), the right was 
given to all princes and towns to decide for themselves whether they and 
their people should be Catholics or Lutherans. All the people in each 
principality, state, or town were thereafter supposed to have exactly the 
same religious faith. Catholic rulers as well as Protestant proceeded to 
secularize a great deal of church property, because they wanted the 
lands and the revenues for themselves. The authorities found it im- 
possible to keep some of their people from embracing other new faiths. 

2 E. E. C, § 707, 3 E. E. C, § 685. 



RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 



21 



Under Henry's only son, Edward VI, whose short rule 
closed with his death at the age of sixteen, Protestantism 
was really introduced 
in England, for many 
Roman Catholic cus- 
toms and usages were 
abolished, and the Eng- 
lish prayer book was in- 
troduced. But Queen 
Elizabeth, who was in- 
different to religious 
questions, adopted a 
compromise which 
made her the unques- 
tioned head of the 
Church as well as of the 
State and made use 
of the English prayer 
book as the basis of the 
church service. Under 
her direction Parlia- 
ment passed laws against Dissenters, that is, against those 
who did not accept this "An'glican" Church. Prominent 
among these Dissenters were the Puritan (§ 26) leaders. 1 

22. Religious Toleration and Liberty. — It would 
naturally be supposed that, since the Reformation was a 
revolt against arbitrary religious rule and privileges, as 
well as against the abuses of the Church universal of that 
day, the first Protestants would have established religious 
liberty or toleration; but they learned that did not work 
in practice. 2 Therefore in the sixteenth century not only 

1 In Scotland the Puritan faith spread so rapidly that the Covenanters, 
who agreed not to accept the old form of rule or worship, really gained 
control of the government and under John Knox established a Puritan 
church in the Presbyterian form. 

2 Luther at one time based his opposition to the Catholic Church on 




St. Paul's Cathedral, London 



Modified 
Protestant- 
ism estab- 
lished by 
Queen 
Elizabeth. 



Intolerance 
among all 
sects in 
the six- 
teenth cen- 
tury. 



22 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



were Catholics and Protestants intolerant of each other's 
beliefs, but every Protestant sect was exceedingly in- 
tolerant toward every other. 

We must understand that, when a country has a state 
church, toleration is simply permission granted by law to 
other sects to hold services of their own. The beginning 
of religious toleration as a doctrine is to be found among 
those religious sects which were not numerous and power- 
ful enough to gain for themselves control of any state. 
The last part of the sixteenth and the early part of the 
seventeenth century is distinguished for the rapid growth of 
the idea of toleration. In France, Henry IV, who had ac- 
cepted Catholicism as the state religion, in 1598 granted re- 
ligious toleration to Huguenots (Edict of Nantes (Nant)). 1 
In Holland religious toleration was permitted for most 
Protestant sects. In Bohemia religious toleration was 
granted to some faiths in 1609. In England, although 
there was no religious toleration by law, there was con- 
siderable toleration in practice in spite of the declaration 
of James I in 1606 that he would make the separatist Puri- 
tans conform or force them to leave England.. 

We hear it said that the Puritans came to America for 
religious liberty, which is a radically different thing of 
course from toleration. Under religious liberty there is 
no state church, and every person may worship as he 
pleases. Nothing is farther from the truth, for the Puri- 
tans came solely for the purpose of establishing their own 
church, and they did not tolerate any other Protestants, 
whether Baptists, Quakers, or any other sect. Not until 



the ground that a man's salvation depends upon his true relation to God 
through his own personal faith (justification by faith). He found that 
he was obliged to modify that doctrine, which would leave to each member 
of a church the right to believe exactly what he pleased, for he learned 
that, if a church is organized at all, it must be organized by those who 
have practically the same beliefs. 
1 E. E. C, p. 702. 



RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 23 

Roger Williams, driven from Massachusetts Bay colony 
chiefly because of his religious heresy, founded Providence 
in Rhode Island, and declared that the state and religion 
must be separated, that the government should have no 
control over religion, and that therefore any one might 
worship as he wished, did religious liberty find its first 
foothold in the modern world. 

23. Education. — The Renaissance gave an impetus Parochial 
not only to the study of the classics, but also to schools schools - 
for the sons of burghers and the better class of farmers. 
On the Continent, especially in the country districts, edu- 
cation was conducted almost exclusively in Catholic 
countries by the parish authorities, either by the priest 
himself or by some one selected by the bishop. Very great 
attention was given therefore to instruction which we 
should call religious rather than secular. 

In many towns in England and on the Continent schools Town 
were established under the control of the municipal au- schools - 
thorities. A little broader education was given than had 
been done in the older church schools, but the pupils as 
a rule were obliged to pay rates for the support of the 
schoolmaster, whose salary was exceedingly low, averaging 
£16 a year in England. 

In England schools of the early seventeenth century TheEng- 
were very different from those which had existed two cen- hs ^ a . n< * 
turies earlier. Many of them were denominational schools ; grammar 
others were not under religious domination but were con- sch ° o1 - 
trolled by the local authorities. 1 Instruction was given 
in Latin, grammar, and numbers rather than in some of 
the older subjects. Ordinarily charges were made for 
instruction and rates were paid by those who attended the 
schools. In a few cases, as in that of John Colet's school, 
no charge was made and in a few other instances charity 
schools were founded. The schools which were estab- 
i E. E. C, § 717. 



24 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



lished in almost all New England towns before 1650, and 
the schools that later were started by the colonies farther 
South, were in almost all cases closely patterned after the 
grammar schools of England of this period. Of course 
the day of free education, of education for girls in schools, 
of studying life and of training for life had not come yet, 
either in England, on the Continent, or in America. 

24. The New Science. — The new science was largely 
a product of the new spirit of the Renaissance ; it was in 
turn a cause of the further development of democracy, a 
greater demand for liberty, and a fresh intellectual expan- 
sion. We must not suppose that the Middle Ages knew 
nothing whatever of science, because we know that the 
Saracen schools of Spain and southern Italy and the 
universities at Oxford, Cambridge, and on the Continent 
did study the science known to the Greeks and some science 
that had been developed later. They did not study this 
science, however, very carefully or critically; in other 
words, they did not study in a really scientific spirit. It 
was not until the late sixteenth and the early seventeenth 
century that two great philosophers, an Englishman, Sir 
Francis Bacon, and a Frenchman, Rene Descartes (Day- 
cart'), taught that science and all other subjects should 
be studied at first hand, with an open and a critical 
mind. 

The beginnings of modern science may be traced back 
to Co-per'ni-cus, who died in 1543. Copernicus, a mathe- 
matician, proved by elaborate and accurate reasoning that 
the sun, not the earth, is the center of our solar system, 
and that the earth and planets revolve around the sun. It 
was not until after the opening of the seventeenth century 
that other scientists and astronomers carried on the work 
which he began. After 1600 Gal-i-le'o constructed a tele- 
scope and by his observations showed that the Copernican 
theory is correct. Still later the great English scientist, 



RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 25 

Sir Isaac Newton, worked out the law of gravitation. 
With these notable beginnings it was possible for modern 
science to develop, though slowly, throughout the eight- 
eenth century. None the less, when we compare the 
scientific achievements of recent and earlier centuries, we 
are almost inclined to the belief that modern science is 
practically the product of the last century (§499). 

General References 

Cross, History of England and Greater Britain, 338-347, 401-426. 

Prothero, English Farming, Past and Present, 78-129. 

Stephenson, The Elizabethan People. 

Cheyney, European Background of American History, 200-315. 

Ashley, Economic Organisation of England, 88-139. 

Cheyney, Industrial and Social History of England, 136-198. 

Warner, Landmarks in English Industrial History, 150-243. 

Gibbins, Industrial History of England, 82-119. 

Cunningham, Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects, 
II, 146-224. 

Cambridge Modern History, I, 493-531. 

Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce in 
Modern Times, I, 1-562. 

Hoover (eds.), Agricola's De Re Metallica. 

Hugon, Social France in the Seventeenth Century. 

Sydney, England and the English in the Eighteenth Century, 
2 vols. 

Mead, The Grand Tour in the Eighteenth Century. 

Traill and Mann (eds.), Social England, III (part II), IV. 

Topics 

Break-up of the Manor : Ashley, Economic Organization 
of England, 44-67 ; Warner, Landmarks in English Industrial 
History, 134-150; Cheyney, Industrial and Social History of 
England, 99-133. 

English Agriculture : Prothero, English Farming, Past 
and Present, 78-102; Cunningham, Growth of English Industry 
and Commerce in Modern Times, I, 100-119; Gibbins, Industrial 
History of England, 108-120. 

Beginnings of Capital and Trade : Ashley, Economic Organ- 
ization of England, 68-87 ; Cheyney, Industrial and Social 



26 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

History of England, 161-172 ; Warner, Landmarks in English 
Industrial History, 150-208; Cunningham, Western Civilization 
in Its Economic Aspects, II, 162-224. 

Beginnings of Modern Science : Snyder, The World Ma- 
chine, 161-266 ; Sedgwick and Tyler, Short History of Science, 
191-229, 255-272 ; Williams, Every Day Science, I, 53-123, 192- 
251. 

Studies 

1. Sixteenth century enclosures. Cheyney, Industrial and 
Social History of England, 141-147. 

2. The nobility two or three centuries ago. Lowell, The 
Eve of the French Revolution, 70-82. 

3. Sports in England. Stephenson, The Elizabethan People, 
102-109. 

4. Merrie England in Elizabeth's Day. Synge, Social Life 
in England, 161-189. 

5. Problems of London Life. Cunningham, Growth of 
English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times, I, 312-324. 

6. Capital and labor for the colonies. Cunningham, 
Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times, I, 
342-350. 

7. Decline of the English gilds. Cheyney, Industrial and 
Social History of England, 147-161. 

8. The Eastland Company and Muscovy Merchants. 
Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce in 
Modern Times, I, 234-241. 

9. The greatest maritime people of the seventeenth century. 
Cunningham, Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects, 
II, 196-206. 

10. Religious toleration. Bury, History of Freedom of 
Thought, 92-127. 

11. Seventeenth century schools. Parker, History of Modern 
Elementary Education, 49-64. 

Questions 

1. What were the most important countries of Europe 
three centuries ago ? What countries appeared on the map then 
which have since disappeared? What countries have since 
appeared on the map ? 

2. What powers had the kings gained at the expense of the 
nobles? Give some idea of the privileges of provinces or towns 



EUROPE IN EARLY XVII CENTURY 27 

and liberties possessed by the people of that day. Have our 
American states privileges or rights corresponding to those of the 
seventeenth century province? Do American cities to-day 
possess any privileges corresponding to those of early modern 
towns? Name at least five respects in which we have more 
liberty to-day than our ancestors had three centuries ago. 

3. How was the central government of England organized 
in 1600 ? What was the nature of English local government of 
that day? 

4. Had the lords lost more political powers or more privi- 
leges during the later Middle Ages? 

5. Is there any connection between the break-up of the 
manorial system and the abolition of villeinage? Where were 
there serfs in 1600, and to what extent were they better off than 
their ancestors? How do you account for the abolition of 
villeinage in some places and the retention of serfdom in others ? 

6. In what respects had conditions in the cities improved? 
(Cf. E. E. C., §§ 552-554.) 

7. Under what conditions were most goods produced three 
centuries ago? To what extent were gilds still in existence? 
How much government regulation was there? Compare these 
three things in Europe then and America now. 

8. Compare conditions in the Middle Ages and in 1600 
regarding the following subjects : local trade, national and inter- 
national trade, eastern trade, and commerce with the colonies. 

9. Name at least three conditions which made it impossible 
for the medieval Church to retain its universal rule and exten- 
sive temporal authority in the early modern period. Give some 
idea of the organization, clergy, and work of the Roman Catholic 
Church at this time. 

10. Explain why the rise of the nations created a problem 
of Church and State in both Catholic and Protestant countries. 
Explain why a separate church was organized in England and 
show the nature of the rule and worship within that church. 
Explain why religious toleration was an inevitable product 
of the Renaissance movement, but explain also why religious 
toleration and liberty were not allowed by either Protestants 
or Catholics in the sixteenth century. 

11. Compare education of ordinary scholars in the Middle 
Ages, in the English or colonial grammar schools of the seven- 
teenth century, and in America to-day. Why was a new science 
inevitable as a result of the Renaissance? 



28 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 







PART I 

THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM (1603-1789) 



30 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




CHAPTER II 

ENGLAND (1603-1760) 

The Early Stuarts and Parliament (1603-1635) 

25. James I and Parliament. — On the death of Queen "Personal 
Elizabeth, James of Scotland became king of England En°iand° f 
(1603-1625), and for a century the two kingdoms were and Scot- 
united simply because they had the same king. In 1707 ^stuart 
their parliaments were combined and they were united kings, 
under the name of the kingdom of Great Britain. Eliz- 
abeth was the last of the Tudor line ; James was the first 
of the Stuart monarchs. 1 

The new king was learned but not wise. He believed The 
that he had a " divine right " to rule. He declared, "It ''. d j, v + iD< : 

° ' right of 

is atheism and blasphemy to dispute what God can do . . . kings." 
so it is presumption and high contempt in a subject to 
dispute what a king can do." 

It was not long before there was a sharp dispute be- 
tween the king, ruling by divine right, and the Parliament, 



1 The Stuart kings were 


James I (1603 


-1625) 








1 

Charles I 

(1625-1649) 










1 
Charles II 
(1660-1685) 




1 

James II 
(1685-1688) 

1 


1 




1 
Mary and William 
(1689-1701) 


1 

Anne 

(1701-1715) 


I 
[George I] 



31 



32 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



made up largely of Puritans, who demanded a real share 
in the government. This conflict arose chiefly over the 
granting of " supplies/' or royal revenues, by Parlia- 
ment. Parliament ordinarily refused to give the king 
money unless he gave Parliament privileges in return. 
Consequently James went without money and Parliament 
did not meet often during his reign. 1 

26. The Puritans. — The Puritan movement 2 started 
when refugees fled to Geneva from the persecutions of 
Mary Tudor. 3 In Geneva, they gladly followed the 
suggestions of John Calvin. The Scriptures, especially the 
Old Testament, were studied with unflagging zeal. They 
favored the election of pastors by churches and often pre- 
ferred the rule of churches by elders. They were narrow 
and intense, severe in self-discipline, moral and upright, 
and they attached an importance to simple forms that is 
amazing to a person of the twentieth century. Their de- 
sire to raise the low moral standard of the time made them 
go to the opposite extreme, and their opposition to amuse- 
ments was rabid. We are almost tempted to believe the 
statement that they objected to the cruel sport of bear- 

1 James was anxious to make an alliance with Spain. In the end 
he failed to secure a Spanish princess for his son, Charles, because 
Spain demanded in return concessions to the English Catholics, which 
James dared not grant. Finally Charles married a French princess, 
Henrietta Maria, and both he and his father secretly promised Riche- 
lieu (Rish-lyu') that the English Catholics should be treated more 
leniently. 

2 In Scotland, the Puritans were, almost without exception, Presby- 
terians, favoring the rule of the church by elders or representatives, but 
in England there were three different groups. The largest of these 
groups, the ''Puritans" proper, remained in the established or Anglican 
Church, but wished to "purify" the church service of old or "papist" 
forms. A second group, the Presbyterians, wished a form of government 
by presbyters or elders to be substituted for the rule of the bishop, and 
a third group, called Independents, insisted that each church should be 
ruled by its congregation. Those Puritans who were willing to leave the 
Anglican church were called Separatists. 

3 E. E. C, § 686. 



EARLY STUARTS AND PARLIAMENT 



33 



baiting less because it gave pain to the bear than because 
it afforded pleasure to the spectators. 




A Puritan 



St. Gaudens 



The Puritans of England hoped for great things from Hampton 
James, since he came to them from a land of Puritans, but conference. 
James had had enough Puritanism to last him the rest of 
his life. At the Hampton Court Conference (1604), where 
the reforms desired by the Puritans were discussed, he 
angrily declared that Puritanism : " agreeth as well with 

1 James meant Presby terianism . 



34 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



monarchy as God and the Devil." He insisted that the 
Separatist Puritans should conform to the requirements 
of the Anglican church or he would " harry them out of 
the land." He was as good as his word; many Separa- 
tists were obliged to leave England for Holland, whence 
several years later many of them, known as " Pilgrims," 
came to Plymouth colony on the coast of Massachusetts. 

27. Charles I and 
Parliament. — When 
James I died, in 1625, 
his oldest son became 
king, with the title 
Charles I. Charles 
was radically different 
from his father, being 
handsome and attrac- 
tive. Although hon- 
est, upright, and re- 
ligious, Charles was 
silent, secretive, and 
unable to understand 
what the people 
wanted. From the 
first, he needed money, 
and his wars increased 
his need, but he did not get any revenue from Parlia- 
ment. 1 

Charles was now forced to resort to any expedient to 
get money. He asked in every county for free gifts, but 
few were made. He then collected forced loans. He 

i When Charles asked Parliament to vote him "supplies," Parliament 
responded by criticizing the king's favorite, Buckingham, and condemn- 
ing the failure of a miserable campaign against the Spanish. The king 
dissolved Parliament. The next year, it was called again. Again it 
was dissolved, without voting funds, in order to prevent the impeach- 
ment of Buckingham, 




Charles I, by Van Dyck 



EARLY STUARTS AND PARLIAMENT 35 

saved expenses by quartering troops upon the people. Expedients 
He levied tonnage and poundage duties, 1 although Parlia- Charles 
ment had granted them to him only from year to year, not to raise 
for the whole of his reign, as had been done with previous money - 
sovereigns for more than a century. 

28. The Petition of Right. — When Parliament met Provisions 
in 1628, the House of Commons insisted upon a redress p e * it i on 
of grievances. It drew up a Petition of Right, to which of Right 
the king reluctantly gave his consent. This great docu- ( '' 
ment provided that (1) the king should not collect gifts, 

loans, benevolences, or taxes without the consent of 
Parliament; (2) people should not be kept imprisoned 
arbitrarily ; (3) and martial law should not be used in 
time of peace. (4) Quartering of soldiers on the people 
was prohibited. This Petition of Right is one of the 
most important documents in the English Constitution. 

When the Commons sought to discuss their religious 
grievances, Charles at once dissolved Parliament. 2 For 
eleven years no Parliament met in England. The king 
imprisoned Eliot and four associates who had opposed 
him in Parliament, Eliot dying in prison a few years 
later. By the use of arbitrary courts which did not allow 
jury trial, the Court of the Star Chamber 3 and the Court 
of High Commission, Charles ruled England about as he 
pleased. 

29. Arbitrary Rule of Charles I (1629-1635). — With 
the aid of Laud, later archbishop of Canterbury, Charles 

1 E. E. C, § 592, n. 2. 

2 Just before adjournment, amidst intense excitement, Sir John Eliot 
introduced three famous resolutions. These resolutions declared that 
those who made innovations in religion, either of form or of doctrine; 
those who advised the levying of tonnage and poundage without the con- 
sent of Parliament ; and those who paid tonnage and poundage, were 
betrayers of the liberty of England and enemies of the commonwealth. 
With shouts of "aye, aye" the Commons adopted the resolutions, as 
they dispersed. 

3 E. E. C, § 649. 



36 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Laud's 
high church 
policy for 
all churches. 



Unusual 
methods 
used by 
Charles to 
secure 
revenue. 



Ship money 
and the 
Hampden 



introduced into the church service many high church 
forms that were odious to the Puritans. Laud was will- 
ing that men should interpret the Scriptures as they de- 
sired, but he insisted that all churches and all clergymen 
observe these new forms, such as wearing the surplice and 
keeping the communion table at the east end of the choir. 

Without a Parlia- 
ment to grant him 
supplies, Charles 
was forced to ob- 
tain money in other 
ways. Under a 
very old law' he 
compelled men to 
be knighted, the 
king's treasury 
profiting by the 
fees and fines. The 
Crown seized lands 
to which it had a 
slight claim under 
the old feudal law, 
or it left the lands 
in the hands of the 
holders in return 
for a money pay- 
ment. Even these arbitrary assessments did not give 
Charles enough revenue. He then levied on the seacoast 
towns an assessment for the royal navy, called " ship 
money." As there was precedent for this in time of war, 
the people paid the tax. 

The next year (1635) a second levy of ship money was 
made. This time the inland towns were included also. 
John Hampden, a country squire, refused to pay the 
levy on the ground that it was a tax which had not been 




Archbishop Laud 



EARLY STUARTS AND PARLIAMENT 37 

approved by Parliament. Since Charles controlled the 
court before which Hampden was tried, it decided against 
Hampden by a vote of seven judges to five. This was a 
legal victory for Charles but a moral victory for the oppo- 
sition. This arbitrary government of Charles caused 
many Puritans to migrate to the New World. In New 
England they established colonies which they governed as 
they pleased; in them they had their own church (§ 79). 

Pukitan Revolution and the Restoration 

(1635-1688) 

30. Events Leading to Civil War. — In 1637 Charles Trouble 
tried to force the Scotch to follow Laud's policy, includ- g 1 ^ * he 
ing the use of the English Prayer Book. The Scotch 
protested and finally raised an army. With the Scotch 
in northern England, Charles now summoned a famous 
Parliament, known in history as the Long Parliament. 

The Long Parliament met in no uncertain temper. It How the 
proceeded to attack Charles' chief advisers and finally ^^ g ^ ar " 
beheaded the Earl of Strafford l and, later, Archbishop abolished 
Laud. Parliament protected itself against the king. It 
provided for meetings of Parliament at least every three 
years, and the Long Parliament was not to be dissolved 
without its own consent. It abolished the Courts of 
the Star Chamber and High Commission. It declared 
illegal not only ship money, but tonnage and poundage, 
if the latter were collected without the consent of Par- 
liament. 

In November, 1641, the House of Commons passed, by The grand 
a majority of only nine votes, a Grand Remonstrance, j^™^ 
which was a protest against the misgovernment of 
the king. A few weeks later the king, aroused by the 

1 Parliament first tried to impeach Strafford, or Wentworth, a former 
leader of the Commons. Then Parliament passed a bill of attainder 
against him and sent him to the block. 



38 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



proposed impeachment of the queen, and hoping to rid 
himself of the leaders of the opposition, marched with his 
soldiers to the House of Commons, intending to arrest 
five objectionable members. The soldiers were left out- 
side, and' amid cries of " privilege, privilege," Charles 
withdrew, remarking, " Well, I see the birds are flown." 
Within a short time the parliamentary and royalist parties 
came to blows. 

31. Civil War. — Southern and eastern England, with 
its towns, prosperous farms, and large estates, supported 

Parliament. Northern and west- 
ern England stood by the king. 
The king's supporters, gentlemen 
in fine dress, their hair in long 
curls, were called " cavaliers" 
Their opponents, with shaven 
heads and simple clothing, were 
known as " roundheads." For 
the disciplined, intensely religious 
roundheads the cavaliers were no 
match. 1 At Marston Moor and 
Nase'by the forces of Parliament 
were completely victorious. 

By 1647 Charles was driven 
to take refuge with the Scotch 
army, which surrendered him to 
Parliament. As the Presby- 
terians in Parliament were likely 
to be too favorable to the king, 
Colonel Pride of the army drove them out, an act known 
as Pride's Purge. The king was tried at once by the 

1 The Puritan army, the "new Model," made up of sincere, earnest 
Puritans who prayed and kept their powder dry, was modeled after a 
regiment of cavalry, the famous "Ironsides" of Oliver Cromwell, "a 
lovely company," as their commander called them, without intentional 
irony. 




A Cavalier 



PURITAN REVOLUTION 



39 



remaining members of this " Rump " Parliament, was 
condemned to death as a " tyrant, traitor, and mur- 
derer," and was beheaded (1649). 

32. The Commonwealth and Protectorate. — England 
was now declared a " Commonwealth." The first need 
of the new government was to establish order, a task which 
was completed by the great Puritan leader, Oliver Crom- 
well, with characteristic thoroughness. Ireland was 
subdued in a campaign of unusual severity (§ 362). A 
new insurrection of Scotchmen, loyal to the House of 
Stuart, who rallied to the 
support of the late king's son, 
" Bonnie Prince Charlie," 
was completely suppressed, 
but Charles escaped from 
England after weeks of 
hiding. 

In 1653, Cromwell in dis- 
gust dissolved the " Rump " 
Parliament. Soon after he 
was made " Lord Protector." 
Although England still had a 
Parliament, Cromwell's was 
the master mind of both 
Commonwealth and Protec- 
torate. This Puritan, a plain man of the plain people, by 
virtue of his honesty, his uprightness, and his thorough- 
ness, stands out as the greatest Englishman in political 
life during the seventeenth century. 

33. The Puritan Commonwealth. — Cromwell's was 
really a military rule, a despotism greater than that of 
Charles I. He made the name of England feared abroad. 
His firmness toward the Dutch, French, and Spanish, 
and his successes in the wars with Holland and Spain, 
made him popular at home. Under him business pros- 




Oliver Cromwell 



Cromwell 
establishes 
order and 
dissolves 
Parlia- 
ment. 



Popularity 

of 

Cromwell'3 

firm rule 

and 

successful 

foreign 

policy. 



40 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



pered, as was natural, for the opposition to the king had 
been chiefly the opposition of the agricultural and com- 
mercial classes. 

This Puritan Commonwealth was an interesting political 
experiment. In spite of the fact that it was despotic in 
character, it was presumably based on an " Instrument 
of Government," which was a written constitution, the 
first ever used by a large country. The government 
favored liberty of the press, for which Cromwell's secre- 
tary, the great poet, John Milton, had pleaded during 
the Civil War. It tried to establish religious toleration, 
but without great success. The Puritan revolution did 
not fail, although it seemed to fail, since it had stood 
for ideas that very soon made England the first modern 
constitutional monarchy of Europe. 

34. The Restoration (1660) and Reaction. — Cromwell 
died in 1658. Under his son, the Protectorate was a failure. 
All classes desired a return of the Stuarts, and in 1660 
the Restoration occurred, " Bonnie Prince Charlie " be- 
coming king with the title of Charles II. Many of the 
Puritan laws were declared null and void, but others — for 
example, the Navigation Ordinance of 1651 (§ 75), to build 
up the shipping of England at the expense of the Dutch — ■ 
were reenacted to make them legal. In the next war with 
the Dutch, New Netherland became English territory. 

As the Puritans had been overstrict in everything, 
especially by enforcing a " puritanical " Sabbath and by 
interfering with sports and pleasures, there was a reaction 
from simple, severe living. People went to the opposite 
extreme, led by the king and the courtiers, who had grown 
accustomed in their exile to the lax moral standards of 
the Continent. Butler's Hu'di-bras, written at this 
time, caricatured the Puritans and all that they stood 
for. The decline of Puritanism was due to ridicule as well 
as to new legislation. 



THE RESTORATION 



41 



35. The Absolutism of Charles II. — Charles tried to 
obtain religious toleration for his Catholic friends, but 
Parliament passed many laws x against Catholics and 
Dissenters. In spite of the new Habeas Corpus Act 2 
which protected the people against the king's judges, 
Charles ruled very arbitrarily; he took away the char- 
ters of London and of Massachusetts Bay colony. 

The first English political parties appeared at this time. 
The great nobles and the merchants who opposed the 
king's arbitrary government united as Whigs, a name 
which was applied to them at first in contempt ; while 
the conservatives, the gentry, and the clergy, who upheld 
the king, were known as Tories, from the name given to 
Irish outlaws. We can understand from these names 
that the political parties of that time did not love each 
other any better than do the parties of modern times. 

36. The Absolutism of James II (1685-1688).— 
James II was the most narrow and the least able of the 
Stuart kings. In three short years he # made enemies of 
almost all his subjects. He appointed in the army, in 
the church, and in the universities, Catholics who legally 
could not hold office under a law of Parliament, the Test 
Act, for he maintained that, as king, he had the right to 
suspend such laws as he pleased. 

1 The "Cavalier Parliament" of the Restoration was overwhelmingly 
royalist. Among the laws against Dissenters were the Corporation Act, 
keeping Dissenters from holding office in municipal corporations and to 
some extent in Parliament ; an Act of Uniformity, requiring clergymen 
and teachers to assent to everything in the Book of Common Prayer ; 
the Conventicle Act, forbidding Dissenters to hold religious services ; 
and the Five Mile Act, that did not allow a dissenting minister to come 
near any place where he had been a pastor or within five miles of any 
incorporated town or borough. 

2 In 1679 Parliament passed the Habeas Corpus Act. No person 
accused of crime could be held in prison for years, as Eliot had been, but 
must be brought before a court within twenty days after a writ of Habeas 
Corpus had been issued in his behalf to determine whether there was a 
real case against him. 



Quarrel 
between 
Charles IT 
and Parlia- 
ment over 
toleration 
for 
Catholics. 



The first 
Whigs and 
Tories. 



42 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The peti- 
tion and 
trial of the 
seven 
bishops. 



Coming of 
William of 
Orange and 
flight of 
James II. 



Adoption of 
the Bill of 
Rights 
(1689). 



In 1688, James II issued a Declaration of Indulgence 
by which still further favors were granted to Catholics 
and Dissenters. He gave orders that this declaration 
should be read in all churches. The Dissenters scorned 
privileges which they should have in common with 
Catholics, and seven bishops petitioned the king, asking 
that they should not be forced to read the Declaration. 
They were arrested for libel and tried in Westminster 
Hall. To the amazement of the king and the joy of all 
England, the jury brought in a verdict of " not guilty." 

Constitutional Government in England 

37. The Revolution of 1688. — Just before the trial 
of the bishops a son was born to James II. Hitherto, it 
had been expected that James would be succeeded by his 
Protestant daughter, Mary, who was married to William 
of Orange, the Protestant leader of continental Europe 
against Louis XIV. As James' son would undoubtedly 
be brought up a Catholic, a number of prominent nobles 
united in inviting Mary and William to come to England. 
When William accepted, James was deserted by every 
one, soldiers, courtiers, and advisers. He tried to leave 
England and was captured, but William made escape 
easy, as he did not wish James II to meet the fate of his 
father, Charles I. 

A convention of prominent men, having agreed upon a 
Declaration of Rights, invited William and Mary to 
occupy the vacant throne. In 1689, a regular Parliament 
adopted a somewhat similar Bill of Rights. 1 It must be 

1 The Bill of Rights is a declaration of principles rather than a series 
of laws. It declared what ought to be rather than what is. It declared 
illegal the suspending or dispensing with laws, the raising of revenue 
or the keeping of troops without the consent of Parliament, and the denial 
of the right of petition. It favored free elections to Parliament, free 
speech in Parliament, frequent meetings of Parliament, free trials, and 
lighter fines. It recognized William and Mary as monarchs, to be fol- 
lowed by Anne, another Protestant daughter of James II. 



CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 



43 



remembered that the English constitution does not con- 
sist of a single written law, such as our national Constitu- 
tion, but is made up of a series of important documents, 
statutes, and customs. Of these documents three are 
more important than others, Magna Carta, 1 1215 a.d., 
the Petition of Right, 1628 a.d. (§28), and the Bill of 
Rights, 1689. 

38. Importance of the Revolution of 1688. — The 
Revolution of 1688 marks the end of royal absolutism 
in England. Since 1688 the English king has reigned 
rather than governed ; Parliament has been the real 
governing power. In other words, England in 1688 aban- 
doned the absolutism which continued on the Continent 
of Europe for at least a century longer and which still 
exists to a large extent in Germany. She became a 
constitutional monarchy, not a democracy. Since that 
time Parliament has governed the country, but Parlia- 
ment, in turn, was controlled for a century and a half by 
the English aristocracy, usually the Whig aristocracy. 
The members of the House of Lords were aristocrats, and 
they controlled the election of members of the House of 
Commons most of the time until the Reform Act of 1832. 

39. Influence of the Revolution of 1688 on Individual 
Liberty. — The Revolution of 1688 had an- important 
effect upon individual liberty in England. It has been 
the boast of Englishmen that the English needed only to 
retain liberty, whereas other peoples were obliged to 
acquire it after a long struggle ; yet during the seventeenth 
century the average Englishman was not free in the 
twentieth century sense.. He did not have the right to 
vote, nor did he acquire that privilege until comparatively 
recent years ; but, through the Revolution of 1688, he 
did obtain many personal or civil rights which he had not 
enjoyed before. 

i E. E. c, § 590. 



The govern- 
ment of the 
aristocracy 
through 
Parliament 
(1688- 
1832). 



Civil lib- 
erty but not 
political 
liberty 
gained in 
1688. 



44 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Civil rights 
that were 
granted to 
English- 
men only. 



Parliamen- 
tary control 
of succes- 
sion to the 
throne and 
its own 
elections. 



He obtained the right of petition, the right of free 
speech, and the right of free press. Religious toleration 
was granted to all Protestants. The privileges of jury 
trial and the writ of Habeas Corpus were of real value 
after 1688, since the king no longer interfered with the 
judges and the courts. 1 

40. The Supremacy of Parliament. — The most im- 
portant result of the Revolution of 1688, namely, the 
supremacy of Parliament over the king, was shown in 




The Old Parliament House 

several ways and in several laws. First of all, Parlia- 
ment destroyed the doctrine of " divine right " by de- 
ciding in 1689, and again in 1701, who should occupy the 
throne of England. Parliament provided for new elec- 
tions of members at least every three years ; now elections 

1 Strangely enough, these rights were not granted to Scotchmen or 
Irishmen, nor were they given to American colonists, with the exception 
of religious toleration to Protestants ; but the fact that these rights there- 
after were "rights of Englishmen," and that the American colonists had 
a good English precedent which they were not slow to follow, is of im- 
portance in the constitutional development of America as well as of 
England. 



CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 45 

may be five years apart. Judges were to hold office dur- 
ing good behavior, unless removed by Parliament. 

Parliament not only controlled the raising of revenue, Complete 
but it decided the purposes for which that money should £, on *r o1 by 
be spent. Before 1688, the kings had used as they pleased of both 
the money raised by themselves or appropriated for them sword and 
by Parliament. Since the Revolution, money for their 
use has been granted in a Civil List which specifies the 
objects for which expenditures shall be made. By the 
Mutiny Act the king could keep troops only one year 
without the full support of Parliament. With the con- 
trol of both the purse and the sword, Parliament was 
unquestionably supreme over the king. It later de- 
veloped the cabinet system of government (§ 42) as 
a means of ruling the kingdom. 

41. The Last Stuart Reigns. — William of Orange had William 
been for years (§ 58) the leader of the Protestant coalition an j* ^ nne 
against the aggressions of Louis XIV along the Rhine, ministers. 
He was tactless and preferred Dutch ways and councils 
to Englishmen and English methods. William III was 
not in favor of constitutional government, but he found 
that by selecting ministers who were acceptable to 
the majority of the members of the House of Com- 
mons, he could rule better, and get more of the things 
that he wanted. His successor was still more careful to 
select ministers who were in favor with Parliament. 1 By 
the act of succession in 1701, Anne, sister of Mary, was 
designated to succeed William, and at her death, if she 
left no heirs, the throne was to pass to Sophia, the Elec- 
tress of Hanover, and granddaughter of James I, or her 
heirs. 

1 In 1707, Queen Anne vetoed a bill. Since that time the veto has 
not been exercised by the English sovereign because the monarch chooses 
his ministers from the party which has the majority in the House of 
Commons and accepts any legislation which they consider wise. 



46 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



England 
and Scot- 
land. 



Develop- 
ment under 
the minis- 
tries of Sir 
Robert 
Walpole. 



The reigns of William III and of Anne were marked by 
the foreign wars ending in the treaties of Rys'wick and 
U'trecht (§ 59), and by several important constitutional 
changes in addition to the beginning of the cabinet just 
noted. In 1707 England and Scotland were really 
united in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The 
Scotch people vigorously opposed for many years this 
union in which their national identity seemed to be lost, 
but the union brought to Scotland numerous gains. A 
stimulus was given to trade, as Scotch manufactures could 
now be marketed profitably in the English market, and 
Scotch ships were included under the Navigation Law of 
1660. Not the least of the gains was the abolition of 
the Scotch Parliament, which had grown in previous 
years into an exceedingly unrepresentative and corrupt 
body of nobles. Scotland was fairly well represented in 
both the House of Lords and the House of Commons ; 
Parliament therefore ceased to be English and became 
British. 

42. Development of Cabinet Government. — George 
I and George II were mature men before the death of 
Anne brought the House of Hanover to the English 
throne. 1 In consequence, they remained German so 
long as they lived, George I not even troubling himself 
to learn the English language. Since they had been made 
English kings by the Whig party, they put their trust 
absolutely in the Whig leaders. The most important 
of these was the prime minister from 1721 to 1742, Sir 
Robert Walpole. When Walpole came into power, the 
cabinet system of English government was incompletely 
organized. During his rule that system was further 



1 George I ruled from 1714 to 1727, George II from 1722 to 1760, and 
George III (§328) from 1760 to 1820. The ablest ministers of these 
men were Walpole, the Earl of Chat'ham (William Pitt the elder), and 
William Pitt the younger (§ 328). 



CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 



47 



developed, since Walpole selected his own ministers and 
dominated the policy of the cabinet and ministry. Al- 
though the ministry was then, as it is to-day, nominally 
made up of the king's advisers, Walpole selected his col- 
leagues from those who enjoyed the support and sympa- 
thy of the House of Commons. When the cabinet as a 
whole lost that sup- 
port, the ministry 
resigned. 

It must not be 
supposed, that be- 
cause the House 
of Commons was 
the more popular 
branch of the Eng- 
lish Parliament, 
and because the 
ministry was chiefly 
responsible to the 
House of Commons, 
it represented the 
English nation, for 
it did not until 
long after this time 
(§345). In the first 
place, only a few 
privileged persons were allowed to vote, and secondly, the 
boroughs which returned men to Parliament were in some 
cases old towns which had lost most of their inhabitants. 
Many of these boroughs, moreover, were controlled by 
some lord or noble who owned most or all of the land in 
the vicinity. Finally, the nobles who supported Walpole 
were kept subject to the prime minister by gifts of offices, 
pensions, and numerous other forms of bribery. So promi- 
nent, in fact, was this political corruption of members of 




Sir Robert Walpole 



. 48 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Parliament by Walpole, and later by George III, that the 

members of our constitutional convention in 1787 spent 

a quarter of their time discussing ways and means of 

keeping the executive department from corrupting the 

legislature and the legislature in turn from dominating 

the executive. 

How the 43. Business and Finance. — Since the Whig aris- 

trieTto 11611 tocracy included many large landowners and important 

help busi- merchants of England, business was encouraged by the 

government during most of this period. We shall note 

(§§ 83-87) some of the measures taken against the French 

in connection with trade, particularly in the West Indies. 

In order to help English manufacturing, export duties 

were removed from 136 manufactured articles, and 

import duties were abolished for a large number of raw 

materials. In order to discourage smuggling, Walpole 

attempted to levy an internal tax upon the consumption 

of liquors, in place of an import duty upon liquors brought 

into the country ; but he was forced to repeal this measure 

because excise taxes were as unpopular as smuggling was 

popular. Walpole did succeed, however, in reorganizing 

the finances and in keeping down expenses by avoiding 

foreign wars. 

Banking, In 1694 the Bank of England was established. This 

credited & ave the country a stable paper currency and showed 

speculation, the advantages of using credit in the development of 

business. Unfortunately, the abuse of credit led to many 

get-rich-quick schemes. 1 The mania for speculation was 

1 At this time, it was thought that immense fortunes could be made in 
colonization schemes. Consequently companies were formed for the 
purpose of exploiting the commerce of distant lands. The most impor- 
tant of these schemes was that tried by the Da-ri-en' Company, which 
sought to make money by establishing a commercial colony on the 
Isthmus of Darien, or Panama, near the location of our present canal. 
Another adventure far more ambitious was that of the South Sea Com- 
pany. 



ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 49 

so absurd that enormous sums were paid for the stock of 
the South Sea Company, which was expecting to estab- 
lish colonies, mine precious metals, and make fortunes. 
In fact, it never did any real business. When people 
realized that these ventures were purely speculative, the 
South Sea bubble burst, many fortunes were lost, and 
few were made except by the promoters. 

The commercial wars of the eighteenth century were Commercial 
the direct outgrowth of the attempt to use government ^ht^enth 6 
influence to develop colonies, manufacturing, and trade, century. 
The story of the commercial rivalry, first, between Eng- 
land and Holland, and afterwards between England and 
France, is told in Chapter IV. 

Social Conditions in England, Early Eighteenth 
Century 

44. London. — About one tenth of all the people of Expansion 
England resided in London, although there was no other g ft ^ h 
town in the country which contained 30,000 inhabitants, capital. 
London was an important seaport, the quays near the 
Tower being thronged with vessels from every quarter 
of the globe. Since the Middle Ages, the city had grown 
considerably to the north and west, so that Westminster, 
which in the days of the Edwards was a long way beyond 
the walls, was well within the city limits in the reign of 
Queen Anne. The palace of the Queen, since the days 
of Henry VIII the town residence of the English mon- 
arch, was at St. James, which was beyond Westminster; 
to-day St. James is in the heart of London. There was 
still but one bridge across the Thames, known as 
London bridge. 

In the time of Queen Anne, the streets of London London 
were not much better than they had been in the Feudal streets - 
Age. They were unpaved and not very broad. A 
row of posts separated the unpaved sidewalk from the 



50 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Use of 
the coffee 
house. 



Some 
famous 
coffee 
houses. 



dust or mud of the highway. 1 Ladies naturally were 
allowed the inside of the sidewalk because of the danger 
to dress from the mud of the streets or dripping water 
from spouts which extended from the roofs of shops 
out towards the gutters. In case of showers, however, 
every one hastened for shelter, for only those callous to 
ridicule carried the umbrellas which had come into use 
a few years before. At night, the streets were almost as 
unsafe 2 as they had been in the Middle Ages. 

45. The Coffee Houses in Addison's Time. — Attired 
in the elaborate costume of the young dandy, the society 
man of Queen Anne's day repaired at his leisure 3 to one 
of the coffee houses, of which there were from two to 
three thousand in London. One gained entrance by the 
payment of one penny (Id.). Coffee was served for 
Id. or l^d. per cup. Here society men met their friends 
and discussed the latest gossip ; here amateur politicians 
aired their views to all who would listen and debated the 
latest news from France, or from the army in Germany ; 
here such writers as Addison, Steele, and their friends, or, 
later, Dr. Johnson, enjoyed the society of other litterateurs. 

The coffee houses of Addison's time have been much 
advertised in literature. At Button's, the open mouth 
of a lion's head was used by Addison and his associates 
as a post office for the exchange of letters ; Child's in 



1 When coaches were driven recklessly, as they frequently were, 
through the heaps of refuse and puddles of the thoroughfare, the passersby 
fought for the inner side of the sidewalk. In the phrase of the day, 
everyone wanted to "take the wall," for the walled gardens frequently 
faced the street. In the reign of the first Georges, it became a law and a 
rule for the person on the right to have "right of way." 

2 E. E. C, § 553. 

3 The day of the social favorite did not begin very early, since he was 
not often home before midnight. Before noon, he and his wife might 
entertain their friends in their chamber, the wife having breakfasted 
but not yet risen. The dinner hour, which had been at two before the 
Revolution of 1688, became later and later, first three and then four. 



SOCIAL CONDITIONS 51 

St. Paul's Churchyard was famous as the resort of doc- 
tors, ministers, and other scholars ; on the Strand was the 
Turk's Head Coffee House frequented by Dr. Johnson. 
St. James was even more celebrated, and was later pat- 
ronized by Goldsmith, and Burke, among others. 1 

46. Newspapers and the Post. — When freedom of the Newspapers 
press was established by the Revolution of 1688, a great and ,, . 
impetus was given to the. publication of pamphlets. The after the 
first English newspaper, The Daily Courant, was started ^ e i6gg tlon 
the week that Anne was crowned (1702). Most of the 
papers, however, were printed but three times a week. 
They were tiny affairs, about the size of a lady's handker- 
chief, and frequently were printed on one side only. Some 
of them sold for a half penny or a farthing a copy. All 
contained far more scandal than news, so that the govern- 
ment in 1712 placed a stamp tax on all newspapers. 
This ruined some of the papers but did not stop the 
evils. 

Under the later Stuarts, the government had given some Private 
attention to the carrying of the mails, but the posts were and p^ 1ic 
irregular and expensive. During the reign of Charles II, 
a private organization established a penny post. If a 
letter, or package under a pound in weight, was sent by 
a person in London to another in that city, the sender 
paid a penny postage. If the letter or package went out- 
side the city, the receiver paid an additional penny. Later 
the government stopped the penny post and established 
uniform rates of 3c?. for a single sheet sent eighty miles 

1 Some of the coffee houses were business places, where coffee was sold. 
Jonathan's devoted itself to stock jobbing. At Lloyd's in Lombard 
street, the Wall street of London, one could take out marine insurance 
and learn the latest news regarding the arrival or sailing of vessels. 
Lloyd's is no longer in Lombard street, but the company will now insure 
anything and everything insurable. Even Lloyd's, however, drew the 
line at London plate-glass windows during the suffragette outbreaks a 
few years ago. Of the five chocolate houses in London, one, White's, 
was particularly famous, making a specialty of gambling. 



52 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Artificial 
nature of 
the litera- 
ture of the 
period. 



Some 

prominent 

writers. 



Beginnings 
of the 
English 
Novel. 



or less, A^d. for one sent in England for a longer distance, 
and 6<1 for a single sheet to the colonies. 

47. The Augustan Age of English Literature. — The 
period following the Restoration was noted for its litera- 
ture as well as its newspapers. Very properly it is 
called the Augustan Age, because, as in the days of 
Augustus, the monarch and those high in esteem at court 
helped authors and patronized literature. Unlike the 
Elizabethan Age, this period produced no original writers 
or thinkers. The poets and essayists of Queen Anne's 
time devoted their attention less to thought than to style. 
Like the elegant courtiers of the day, they were con- 
cerned chiefly with manners ; not with ideas but with their 
expression. 

Alexander Pope expresses best the ideals of his time. 
His style, like that of John Dryden, a poet of the time of 
Charles II, is highly artificial, but his balanced couplets 
have charm and awaken in the hearer admiration for the 
way in which the thoughts are expressed. Joseph Ad- 
dison is at his best as an essayist, especially in that mirror 
of the times, The Spectator, which was published daily. 
Jonathan Swift excels in satire, to which a life of mis- 
fortune lent bitterness. 1 

Somewhat later than this group of writers appeared 
the first English novelists. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe 
(1719) may be said to be the earliest English novel, but 



1 Dr. Samuel Johnson is remembered best by his great dictionary of 
the English language. After 1715 the government had ceased to aid 
literature, as both George I and his minister, Walpole, had little interest 
in letters. Many wealthy men, however, continued to patronize authors 
to some extent. Dr. Johnson, after struggling several years without 
help, found that his patron, Lord Chesterfield, whose manners have ever 
since been considered ideal, was willing to aid him as soon as the publica- 
tion of the Dictionary was assured. Naturally Johnson was indignant 
and wrote, asking if a patron was not like a person who stands on a bank 
watching a man struggling in the water and when he reaches the shore 
encumbers him with his help. 



SOCIAL CONDITIONS 



53 



the development of fiction was the work of Samuel Rich- 
ardson and Henry Fielding. 

48. Travel and Country Estates. — English roads in 
the early eighteenth century were very bad. Many of 
them were almost impassable on account of mud in the English 
spring and dust in the summer. Turnpikes were coming roads - 
into use between important towns, but usually they were 
little better than the older parish roads. One royal 



Poor 

condition 
of the 




The Quadrangle, Somerset House (Eighteenth Century) 



prince, on a visit to England, spent six hours traveling 
nine miles ; on another stage of his journey he sat almost 
all day in his stalled coach. 

As the more traveled highways were improved, regular Beginnings 
coach service was established. Near London, possibly f Q ^ ular 
the trips were daily, but more often they were twice or service, 
three times a week. On most roads there were inns, 
which were usually clean and well kept. The lower floor 
consisted, as a rule, of only two rooms, a parlor and a 
kitchen. 1 

1 After Queen Anne went to Bath early in her reign, that became the 
favorite social health resort. Under the strict rule of Beau Nash, Bath 



54 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Besides the old-fashioned squire mentioned in section 9, 
there was another type of squire with whom we are much 
better acquainted through the pages of The Spectator, 
and who is typified by Addison's Sir Roger de Coverley. 
Sir Roger is, like the English squire of to-day, a care- 
ful landlord, a justice in the local court, a man ac- 
customed to travel, spending a few weeks in season 
in London, and possibly attending the horse races at 
Ascot Park. 

49. Food, Manners, and Pastimes. — The standard of 
living in England had been improved somewhat since the 
days of Elizabeth. Few new foods had been introduced 
and there had not been many improvements in agricul- 
ture, yet in the middle of the eighteenth century one writer 
reports that half the people ate wheat bread, the rest 
still being content with cakes of barley, rye, or oats. 
This is the more remarkable because the price of wheat 
then was about the same as it was before the Great 
War, although wages were less than one third what they 
are to-day. Meat was relatively cheaper than wheat, 
as it could be purchased for from five cents to fifteen cents 
a pound. In Ireland meat was less than two cents per 
pound. The English housewives and cooks did not know 
how to make good use of materials. Soups were almost 
unknown, and complaint was made that a Dutch family 
lived in comparative comfort on nine shillings ($2.17) a 
week, whereas an English family had less on a weekly in- 
come of twenty shillings ($4.86). 

Manners at table and elsewhere were unrefined. One 
book of etiquette stated that well-bred people did not 
wipe their knives and forks on bread or the table-cloth, 



prospered, the manners of the people improved, and the nobility was 
properly entertained. Tunbridge Wells and Epsom attracted some 
visitors. Those who could afford to do so and were interested in travel 
took the "grand tour" through the Continent of Europe. 



SOCIAL CONDITIONS 



55 



but on their napkins. Readers were urged not to pick 
their teeth at table with a knife or fork. 1 

The theaters were favorite places of amusement, the 
plays often being exceedingly coarse. Lotteries were 
common, and gambling was sport practiced by every 
gentleman. London had its Vauxhall for celebrations 
and fairs, which were copied in every provincial town. 
The stately minuet was given 
by people of standing, but the 
commoner folk found more en- 
joyment in the reel and the 
country dance. In later dec- 
ades, foreign fashions and 
dances were imported by the 
dandies known as " maca- 
ronis," a name which Yankee 
Doodle shows was used also 
in America. 

50. Intemperance. — The 
early eighteenth century was 
notorious for its intemperance. 
In all earlier ages, the people had drunk immense quan- 
tities of beer and ale, but often this had been but half 
fermented and was therefore almost as much a food as a 
liquor. From the Dutch and other people of the Conti- 
nent, the English had acquired a taste for stronger liquor. 
At this time, one third of the cultivated land of England 
was planted to barley, chiefly used in making malt drinks. 
The total consumption was about two and one half barrels 
per capita. As the children probably consumed less 
than their share, the average for each adult must have 
been at least three barrels. 

One of the important disputes connected with the Hun- 
dred Years' War 2 had been the trade in Bordeaux (Bor-do') 

1 Cf. with E. E. C, § 717. 2 E. E. C, § 601. 




Caricature of a Macaroni 



Dances and 
places of 
amusement. 



Increase 
in drunken- 



56 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Periods of 
religious 
enthusiasm. 
Different 

Protestant 
sects. 



wines between the Ga-ronne' valley and England. This 
traffic had continued with some interruptions but with 
comparatively light taxes until the War of the Spanish 
Succession (§ 59), when England placed prohibitive duties 
on Bordeaux wine. Thereafter, French wines were 
likely to be made " under the sidewalks of London." 
When the trade in French wines was stopped, that with 
Portugal increased, as Portugal and England were allies 
against France. For patriotic and other reasons, wealthy 
Englishmen began to consume large quantities of 
port. 

At this time, gin drinking developed into a. national 
habit in the British Isles, and continued so until the 
outbreak of the Great War. As Lecky says, " Small as 
is the place which this fact occupies in English history, 
it was probably, if we consider all the consequences that 
have flowed from it, the most momentous in that of the 
eighteenth century — incomparably more than any 
event in the purely political or military annals of the 
country." 1 

51. Religious Conditions in the Early Eighteenth 
Century. — We have already noted some of the moral 
conditions of this age. As we look back over the period 
from the beginning of the sixteenth century, we note that 
there seem to have been times of religious enthusiasm 
followed by times of reaction. This is particularly true 
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the 
sixteenth century the English Dissenters were not numer- 
ous, but in the early seventeenth century their numbers 
increased greatly, and they formed many sects. Besides 
the Presbyterians and Congregationalists (Independents) 
(§ 26), there were some Universalists and Unitarians. 
Just before the Civil War (§31) English Baptists began 
to organize churches ; Roger Williams founded a Baptist 

1 Lecky, England in the XVIII Century, I, 519. 



RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 57 

community in Rhode Island at the same time. 1 A few 
years later, George Fox established the Society of 
Friends, popularly known as Quakers. They were sin- 
cere believers in the importance of conscience and the 
equality of all persons. Many Quakers came to the 
middle colonies, especially after William Penn founded 
Pennsylvania. 

The moral standards of the decade preceding the Puritan 
Restoration were not so much those of the English people j^the 53 
as they were the standards of the Puritan faction in con- reaction 
trol of the government. Exceedingly strict observance a s ainstlt - 
of the Sabbath, excessive piety, and the prohibition of 
sports were characteristic of Puritan rule under the Com- 
monwealth. Under the later Stuarts, there was a decided 
reaction against Puritanism and all its works, although 
the English nation did not go to the extreme affected 
by the court and many nobles. 

With the advent of the eighteenth century, there was a Irreligion 
greater rebellion against Puritanism. People considered j£^ m " 
religion as a more practical subject than formerly and in in the early 
time grew indifferent. With the coarseness of the tastes ® 1 ^ teenth 
and amusements of the time, this practical view of re- 
ligion soon degenerated into positive irreligion and 
various forms of immorality. Particularly was this true 
in the raining, manufacturing, and seacoast towns where 
the Dissenters had comparatively little influence and 
the established church was losing all real hold on the 
people. This condition of the Church of England was 
due largely to the fact that many younger sons of the 
nobility went into the church even if they cared nothing 
for religion, and appointments of clergymen were made 
with little regard for religious qualifications. Parsons 

1 The Baptists believed in religious toleration, and, in the case of Wil- 
liams, in religious liberty. They insisted on immersion as the only correct 
form of baptism. 



58 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



were selected because they were good fellows rather than 
because they were good clergymen. 

52. The Rise of Methodism. — The times were ripe 
for a new religious movement, when, about 1730, a group 
of earnest and pious young college men, nicknamed by 
their fellows the Methodists, set for themselves higher 
ideals of living and thinking. By a strong emotional 
appeal to the hearts of their hearers, by preaching a 
gospel of deeper faith and better living, they gained in 
the worst communities a strong hold on the people, es- 
pecially of the poorer class in seacoast and mining towns. 
The leader of this movement was a man of great or- 
ganizing ability, John Wesley. Repeatedly, Wesley's 
life was endangered by the mobs which tried to prevent 
his preaching. With rare courage and real skill, he es- 
caped the vengeance of the mob, and by his sincerity he 
made many friends. He was ably assisted by a famous 
orator, George Whitefield, who swayed large audiences. 

Wesley and Whitefield quickly lost the sympathy of the 
established clergy, who disapproved of the informality 
of their services and of the methods which they used for 
making converts. In time Wesley was refused the right 
to preach in regular Anglican chapels. Eventually 
Methodism was established as a separate religious body ; 
it erected church buildings and also attracted to its mem- 
bership a different class from that to which originally it 
made its strongest appeal. 

53. Summary. — When Elizabeth died, James of Scot- 
land became the first Stuart king (1603-1625). He tried 
to rule by " divine right," opposing the suggestions of 
the Puritans for simpler church services and refusing 
concessions to Parliament except in exchange for sup- 
plies. Charles I (1625-1649) was more attractive than 
his father but no more wise in dealing with Parliament. 
In 1628 Parliament forced Charles to sign the Petition of 






ENGLAND (1603-1760) 59 

Right which restricted his rights as king. Charles 
managed without Parliament for eleven years, establish- 
ing a uniform high church, levying taxes under the guise 
of ship money, and trying to force the English church 
service on the Scotch. This policy caused, first, the 
great migration to New England, and, later, the opposition 
of Parliament to the king. 

In the Long Parliament, the ministers and methods of The Puritan 
Charles were attacked. In 1642 the Civil War began, in f n e J^ u e tion 
which the roundheads were completely victorious over the Restoration, 
cavaliers. Charles was beheaded as a traitor, and a 
Commonwealth was declared. Under the Commonwealth 
and the Protectorate, Cromwell ruled strictly but wisely. 
In 1660 the Restoration occurred. Charles II (1660- 
1685) became king, and most of the Puritan laws were re- 
pealed. Charles tried to rule absolutely. James II 
(1685-1688) suspended the laws, adopted other absolute 
methods, and was very unpopular. 

When a son was born who would be brought up a Catho- Constitu-. 
lie, James was forced by the commercial aristocracy and en ^ e nt V " 
William of Orange to flee from England. The results of 
this Revolution of 1688 were to make Parliament supreme 
over the king and to give individuals certain liberties, as 
speedy trials, freedom of speech, a free press, and religious 
toleration for all Protestants. New laws provided for 
the succession to the throne, assured frequent meetings 
of Parliament, and Parliamentary control of taxation, the 
army, and other subjects. Still later the House of Com- 
mons gained the right to control ministers, or the cabinet. 
After the Revolution of 1688, Protestant Stuart mon- 
archs ruled England until 1715. In 1707 the personal 
union of England and Scotland was changed into a 
United Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1715 George of 
Hanover became king. Under him and his son, George 
II, the cabinet system of government already started de- 



60 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

veloped rapidly, especially during the ministries of Wal- 
pole, who kept his power partly by bribery in elections 
and by giving offices to members of Parliament. The era 
from the Revolution of 1688 to the American Revolu- 
tionary War was one of considerable prosperity. New 
banking and credit methods were introduced, and naturally 
speculation was rife. English business and foreign com- 
merce developed rapidly. 

England two centuries ago was much more crude than 
it is to-day. There were no cities besides London larger 
than 30,000. Streets were badly paved and lighted ; 
country roads were poor. Intemperance was the rule; 
irreligion a natural reaction against Puritanism. At this 
time Methodism started, its leaders working especially 
among the poor and the degraded. 

General References 

Coman and Kendall, History of England, 285-390. 
Cheyney, Short History of England, 383-558. 
Cheyney, Readings in English History, 418-590. 
Lee, Source Book of English History, 333-455. 
Kendall, Source Book of English History, 209-320. 
Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution. 

Beard (ed.), Introduction to the English Historians, 331-491. 
Gardiner, Student's History of England, 481-701. 
Terry, History of England, 618-860. 
Cross, History of England and Greater Britain, 427-675. 
Smith, The United Kingdom, I, 404-650 ; II, 1-153, 460-734. 
Taswell-Langmead, English Constitutional History, 385-539, 
587-604. 

Ashton, Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne. 
Roscoe, The English Scene in the Eighteenth Century. 
Sydney, England and the English in the Eighteenth Century. 

Topics 

Cromwell : Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, 161-191 ; 
Harrison, Oliver Cromwell, especially, 133-134, 174-190; Gardi- 
ner, CromwelV s Place in History. 



ENGLAND (1603-1760) 61 

Individual Rights after 1688 ; Montague, Elements of Eng- 
lish Constitutional History, 150-152 ; Medley, Manual of English 
Constitutional History, 434^-461, 470-479; Taswell-Langmead, 
English Constitutional History, 587-604. 

Coffee Houses in Addison's Time : Boynton, London in 
English Literature, 130-138 ; Ashton, Social Life in the Reign of 
Queen Anne, 161-179; Timbs, Clubs and Club Life in London, 
297-305 ; Roscoe, The English Scene in the Eighteenth Century, 
34-41. 

The Cabinet : Montague, Elements of English Constitutional 
History, 163-173 ; Macy, English Constitution, 338-370 ; Medley, 
English Constitutional History, 112-120; Taswell-Langmead, 
English Constitutional History, 526-539. 



Studies 

1. The Hampton Court Conference. Kendall, Source Book 
of English History, 209-211. 

2. Grievances under James I. Cross, History of England and 
Greater Britain, 437-442. 

3. Petition of Right. Hill, Liberty Documents, 66-77. 

4. The Parliamentary crisis of 1629. Beard (ed.), Intro- 
duction to the English Historians, 347-354. 

5. Religious controversy under Charles I. Macy, English 
Constitution, 274-282. 

6. The trial of Strafford. Cheyney, Readings in English 
History, 467-472. 

7. The art of war during the early seventeenth century. 
Traill and Mann (eds.), Social England, IV, 313-333. 

8. Trial and execution of the king. Cheyney, Readings in 
English History, 485-491. 

9. The great fire in London, 1666. Kendall, Source Book of 
English History, 270-274. 

10. Church and State after the Restoration. Traill and 
Mann (eds.), Social England, IV, 483-488. 

11. The Revolution of 1688. Cheyney, Short History of Eng- 
land, 500-513. 

12. Taxes and finance after the Revolution of 1688. Traill 
and Mann (eds.), Social England, V, 156-173. 

13. Walpole and his system. Beard (ed.), Introduction to the 
English Historians, 436-477. 



62 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

14. The Streets of London. Sydney, England and the English 
in the XVIII Century, I, 9-23. 

15. John Wesley and Methodism. Beard (ed.), Introduction 
to the English Historians, 478-491. 

Questions 

1. What was meant by the "divine right" of a king to rule? 
Why did Parliament object to it? How did the doctrine of 
divine right affect the making of laws? the enforcement of 
laws ? the collection of revenue ? 

2. Trace the rise of the Puritans. Show the differences 
between the different partie:. What do we in America owe 
to Puritanism? 

3. Give provisions of the Petition of Right. How did 
Charles raise revenue: before 1628; after 1628? Show how 
Laud's church policy, ship money, and proposed church changes 
in Scotland brought on a rebellion. Why was New England 
settled after 1629 and not at some other time? 

4. What was the Long Parliament? What did it do? 
Describe Puritan rule under the Commonwealth and the Pro- 
tectorate. 

5. Why is the Restoration (1660) important in English 
history? Show how the government after 1660 changed its 
colonial policy, how it reflected the wishes of the people more 
than before, and how it did more for the commercial classes. 

6. State the causes of the Revolution of 1688, the chief 
events, and the two general results. 

7. Name and discuss at least three ways in which Parliament 
was supreme over the king after 1688 ; three respects in which 
people had more rights. 

8. In the period before 1685 trace briefly the growth of 
Parliament. Notice what powers were gained by it as a result 
of the Revolution of 1688. Show why and how cabinet govern- 
ment was developed in England to a large extent before 1760. 

9. What is a commercial bank like? Why does it help a 
government administer its finances, and how does it help busi- 
ness? If credit is so valuable, why were the South Sea Bubble 
and other radical credit schemes disastrous? Do the commer- 
cial wars between England and Holland and England and France 
prove that the English people rather than the government were 
interested in extending English business and trade? 



ENGLAND (1603-1760) 63 

10. Write an account of an imaginary visit to London in 
the age of Queen Anne. (Include something on travel, inns, 
and food, as well as on the streets, buildings, and coffee houses of 
the city.) 

11. Compare the size of eighteenth century newspapers 
and the rates for sending newspapers or letters by post, with 
modern American newspapers and corresponding postal rates 
of the present time. Name at least three writers of that day; 
give a title of some book or poem of each, and describe at least 
one piece of literature. 

12. Give some idea of intemperance in England two cen- 
turies ago, taking into account the difference between distilled 
spirits, wines, and fermented liquors. 

13. What Protestant sects developed in the sixteenth cen- 
tury; which in the seventeenth and which later? Give some 
reasons for the lack of piety in the century following the Puritan 
Revolution in England. To what extent did Wesley and the 
early Methodists meet a real need? 



CHAPTER III 



ABSOLUTISM ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE 



The Age of Louis XIV 



Long but 
unprofitable 
reign of 
Louis XIV. 



Ambitions 
and policy 
of Louis 
XIV. 



Importance 
of Louis 
XIV's 

court. 



54. General Character of Louis' Reign. — A year after 
the death of Richelieu, 1 Louis XIV, a lad of five years, 
became king of France. His reign of nearly three quarters 
of a century (1643-1715) is famous in the annals of courts 
and of wars. It will always stand as the most perfect 
type of absolutism ; " but despite all its real and not in- 
considerable success the reign was, in the larger sight 
of history, a reign of deceiving ambitions and profound 
failure." 2 

During the boyhood of the king, the real ruler of 
France was the Italian, Maz-a-rin' , a cardinal who tried to 
carry out the policies of Richelieu. With the death of 
Mazarin, Louis became king in fact. The character of 
his rule is indicated in that often-quoted phrase, which 
Louis himself probably never used, " I am the State." 
To govern absolutely, to enlarge the boundaries of France, 
to be the center of the most distinguished court in Europe, 
to be the most prominent figure in world politics — these 
were the ambitions of Louis XIV. 

55. Extravagance of Louis' Court. — Louis spent vast 
sums on his court. He erected at Ver-sailles' a magnificent 
new palace which cost more than a hundred million dollars. 
This was the first truly royal palace of the French kings. 
To Louis' court atVer sallies flocked all of the nobles of France. 



1 E. E. C, § 703. 



2 Adams, Growth of the French Nation. 
64 



AGE OF LOUIS XIV 



65 



The highest honor which a man of good birth could obtain 
was a position at court, for no burgher, however success- 
ful, was allowed a share in the festivities at Versailles. 
There was no disgrace so keen for a prominent noble as 
exclusion from the presence of the king. To accept Louis' 
favor at Versailles meant that the noble had absolutely 
surrendered not only his rights to rule as a feudal lord 




General View, Palace of Versailles 



but his right to think for himself and to criticize the king. 
By this means Louis " imposed on the high nobility a 
gilded captivity." Political feudalism could make no 
stand against an absolutism supported by such prestige 
and splendor. 

This court was copied by all other ambitious mon- 
archs. French became the language of diplomats. French 
methods of dress and of palace decoration, French cere- 
monials, and French literature became the fashion. Louis 
XIV's international as well as national preeminence was, 
in a real sense, that of an autocratic social leader. 

56. Colbert. — The genius of Col-bert', an expert 
financier and economist, was taxed to pay for the ex- 
travagances of the court and the heavy expenses of Louis' 
wars. He doubled the revenues of the king without add- 
ing to the taxes paid by the people. Colbert, however, 



Influence of 
the French 
court and 
methods 
abroad. 



Financial 
reforms a 
paternal- 
ism of 
Colbert. 



66 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Objection 
to paternal- 
ism in 
France 
under 
Louis XIV. 



The loss to 
France of 
many- 
skilled 
Huguenot 
workers. 



was more than a minister of finance ; he was the foremost 
advocate of mercantilism. 1 Being anxious to build up the 
manufactures of France, he created a series of protective 
tariffs which practically excluded from France all foreign 

manufactured articles 
that competed with 
French manufactures. 
By this protection Col- 
bert built up many 
new industries, such as 
silk spinning and weav- 
ing. He also secured 
laws which regulated 
the making of many 
articles. 2 

Such a system is 
called paternalism, for 
it looks after the people 
with the care that a 
father might show. So 
much supervision might 
have been helpful, if 
the old rules of the trade gilds had not still been in force 
in France, and if trade had not been restricted by the 
medieval systems of tolls. What France needed was more 
freedom rather than more regulation. 

57. Economic Effects of Revoking the Edict of Nantes 
(1685). — Soon after the death of Colbert, Louis XIV, 
influenced no doubt by his favorite, Madame de Mainte- 
non, began to persecute the Huguenots. In the homes 

1 E. E. c, § 727. 

2 Colbert succeeded in lowering the price of wheat to consumers, 
but that caused many farmers to raise other crops. Under him manu- 
factures, which formerly had been mere imitations of Italian or Flemish 
goods, became superior to the originals. Chief among these were laces, 
tapestries, gold-embroidered cloths, carpets, porcelains, and fine glass. 




Colbert 



AGE OF LOUIS XIV 



67 



of those that refused to renounce their religion were quar- 
tered dragoons, who were allowed many excesses. In 
1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes, by which religious 
toleration had been granted to the Huguenots by Henry 
IV, the first Bour'bon king of France. The Huguenots, 
hard-working, industrious, and prosperous, were no longer 
permitted to hold religious 
services ; yet they were for- 
bidden to leave France. 
In spite of that prohibi- 
tion, many did leave the 
country, carrying their skill 
and their thrift to Holland, 
Prussia, England, or Amer- 
ica. Their emigration was 
a great economic loss to 
France. 

58. Wars of Louis XIV 
for New Eastern Bound- 
aries. — Louis XIV wished 
to protect Paris, 1 which is 
only 110 miles from the 
northeastern boundary of 

France. . He also desired new territories in the valley 
of the Rhine River. He tried first to seize certain dis- 
tricts claimed by his wife in the Spanish or Belgian 
Netherlands. He was victorious until the Dutch formed 
against him a successful coalition of several countries. 
Later, Louis made war upon the Dutch. Under the leader- 
ship of their new Stadtholder, William of Orange, the 
Dutch formed a new coalition against Louis and won 




Louis XIV 



Belgian and 
Dutch wars. 



1 The nearness of Paris to the northeastern French boundary was an 
important cause of the German "drive" through Belgium and north- 
eastern France at the beginning of the great European war in 1914 
(§ 436), and of later attacks of the German forces (§ 439). 



68 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Beginning 
of the 
"Second 
Hundred 
Years' 
War" be- 
tween 
France and 
England. 



the war, which brought Louis more enemies than 
victories. 

Louis' next move, some ten years later, was to seize 
the Pa-lat'i-nate along the Rhine. 1 This attempt was 
made just a few months before James II was driven from 
the throne of England, when Louis' chief opponent, Wil- 
liam of Orange, became king of England as William III. 




1 64S J. 7 89 After 187 1/ 

Eastern Boundaries of France. 

England was now brought definitely into war with France, 
and the conflicts between these ancient enemies continued 
until Napoleon was beaten by Wellington at Waterloo in 
1815 (§ 158). It was due to old rivalry and to dynastic 
jealousies, to competition for trade and foreign markets, 
but chiefly to a desire for colonial supremacy in America 
and in India. 



1 The War of the Palatinate, known in America as King William's 
War, ended with the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). 



AGE OF LOUIS XIV 



69 



Causes and 
e/ents of 
the war. 



59. The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713). — 
Louis XIV was not content to make France larger and 
more prominent. He persuaded the childless king of 
Spain, Charles II, to select Louis' younger grandson, Philip, 
as his heir. 1 Without delay an alliance of several coun- 
tries, including England and Austria, was formed against 
Louis. Each ally wished 
to maintain the " balance 
of power," which should 
keep any one country from 
becoming too powerful. 
Led by the brilliant but 
unstable Duke of Marlbor- 
ough and by the able Prince 
Eugene of Savoy, the forces 
of the allies won a notable 
victory over the French 
army at Blen'heim near 
the upper Danube (1704). 
When the triumphant allies 
sought to invade France, 

,i ,, , Duke of Marlborough 

tney were unsuccessful, 

because of a great chain of fortresses built by a French 
engineer, Vau-ban'. Their victories therefore did them 
little good. 

In 1711 the Archduke Charles 2 became emperor of Ger- The Treaty 
many. The allies could no more permit Charles to rule ° f Utrecht 




both Spain and Germany than they could allow Philip to 



(1713). 



1 Louis XIVs mother was the granddaughter of Philip II of Spain 
and his wife had been a Spanish princess. When Louis had received 
assurance from most European monarchs that they would not object 
to a Bourbon king on the throne of Spain as well as on that of France, 
he cried out in exultation, "The Pyrenees are no more." 

2 Austria put forward the Archduke Charles as the claimant of the 
allies to the Spanish throne. The Spaniards wanted Philip but feared 
that their country might be absorbed by France. 



70 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



be king of Spain, with the possibility that he might also 
become king of France. They agreed, in the Treaty of 
Utrecht (1713), that Philip should be king of Spain on 
condition that the thrones of France and Spain should 
never be united. 1 

The defeat of the Spanish Armada represented the first 
stage in the rise of England as a world power ; this war, 
known in America as Queen Anne's War, marks the 
second. It left France in a state of exhaustion, hampered 
by a useless and extravagant court. After the death of 
Louis XIV in 1715, France no longer enjoyed the prestige 
and the power that had been hers under the 
monarque." 



The Rise of Russia 

60. Russia before Peter the Great. — Under the 
successors of Ru'rik the Viking 2 the Russians were con- 
verted to the Greek Catholic form of Christianity and 
enjoyed considerable trade with the Byzantine empire. 
In the thirteenth century the country was overrun by the 
westernmost of the Mongols or Tartars, called the Golden 
Horde. To the leaders of the Golden Horde the princes of 
Russia paid tribute for more than two hundred years. 
Finally the -princes of Moscow, having brought all of the 
neighboring Russian nobles under their sway, revolted 
against the rule of the Golden Horde. They had little 
difficulty in gaining their independence, for the day of 
Mongol supremacy was over, except in China and in 
India. 

1 As a result of treaties made between 1713 and 1721, Austria gained 
the Belgian Netherlands and Spanish territories in Italy. The house 
of Savoy acquired Sardinia, the beginning of the present kingdom of 
Italy. England kept Gibraltar, which she had captured during the war, 
and secured from France Acadia, all of Newfoundland, and territory 
around Hudson's Bay in America. 

2 E. E. C, §463. 



RISE OF RUSSIA 



71 



The new 
Russia 



Under Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible, contem- 
poraries of the Tudor monarchs, a new Russia arose in Jj^er 
eastern Europe. The people were still barbarians and Ivan in 
they still clung to Mongol customs. Although they had j^ an Iy 
established a little trade with England through the 




General, View of the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia 



Mus'co-vy Company, they were essentially an Asiatic 
people in their ideas, their interests, and their develop- 
ment. 

61. Peter the Great. — The modernizing of Russia 
was to a great extent the work of Peter the Great. Peter 
became the sole ruler of Russia in the year 1689, at the 
beginning of the Second Hundred Years' War between 
France and England. He was a man of extraordinary 
personality and a hard worker. Though possessed with a 
determination to make Russia a European country, Peter 
was in many respects a barbarian to the day of his death. 



Personality 
and pur- 
poses of 
Peter. 



72 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



In order to understand western civilization Peter spent 
two years in Germany, Holland, and England, working 
as a common ship carpenter in Holland and studying every- 
thing with untiring interest and zeal. He tried to absorb 

European culture and civil- 
ization in order that he 
might know through ex- 
perience what his people 
should have. 

62. Reforms of Peter the 
Great. — On his return from 
the West, Peter persuaded 
or forced the Russians to 
adopt many European cus- 
toms. In place of the long 
cloaks, he insisted .that the 
people wear the short trou- 
sers and the hats in use in 
western Europe. He placed 
a heavy tax on beards. 
When many of the nobles 
sought to keep their patriarchal beards, it is said that he 
stood at a gate of Moscow and with his own hands cut 
off the offensive ornaments. 

Peter brought to Russia thousands of able and skillful 
foreigners to teach his people. He tried to establish 
workshops or factories like those in the West and to 
build up trade with Holland and England. Many re- 
ligious reforms were introduced that won him the dis- 
like of some pious people at home and abroad. He 
established schools of an eminently practical char- 
acter — engineering schools or business colleges rather 
than classical schools. He encouraged his subjects 
to read, to translate, and to print European books 
on history, agriculture, economics, and other subjects 




Peter the Great 



RISE OF RUSSIA 



73 



which would help them to understand European civil- 
ization. 1 

Peter did not succeed perfectly, for the Russians really- 
believed their proverb " novelty brings calamity/' yet he 
hastened the Europeanization of Russia. To prevent the 
undoing of his work, in 1718 Peter caused the death of his 
son A-lex'is by torture, because Alexis stood for the " old 
order " and opposed the innovations of his father. 

63. Expansion of Russia. — Inasmuch as Russia grew 
out of the principality of Moscow, she has always been an 
inland country, and a great deal of her history consists of 
attempts to gain seacoast. Large as she is to-day, Russia 
has very little valuable seacoast which brings her into close 
contact with the outside world. Although all of the 
Ro'ma-noffs 2 have felt the great need of desirable sea 
outlets, Peter the Great realized that need more than any 
other. The opportunity seemed to come to Russia when 
the king of Sweden died in 1697, leaving a son, Charles XII, 
only fifteen years of age. For a century Sweden had been 
the great power of the North, and her possessions around 
the Baltic kept other countries away from that sea. At 
first Charles defeated all of his enemies by his brilliant 
strategy, but his successes turned his head, and in the end 
he was completely beaten by Peter. 

In the north, on the Neva River, Peter founded a nev^ 
capital, facing the West and in touch with western civiliza- 
tion. This was Petrograd, for two centuries called St. 
Petersburg. Peter also tried to gain a foothold on the 
Black Sea, but in this he was unsuccessful. The desire 



Opposition 
to Peter of 
the nobles 
and of his 
son Alexis. 



Russia's 
desire for 
seacoast 
and conflict 
with 

Sweden for 
the Baltic. 



Russian 

struggle 
for Black 
Sea coast 
and for 
Constanti- 
nople. 



1 Peter did not allow women to be kept in their former oriental seclu- 
sion, but urged them to appear in public without veils and in open litters. 
He insisted that engaged couples should be allowed to see each other, 
and to break off the engagement if they did not desire to marry. 

2 In 1613 a Russian noble, Michael Romanoff, became tsar. His 
descendants occupied the Russian throne until 1917 (§ 325). They are 
called Romanoffs. 



74 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Russia in 
Siberia and 
in Central 
Asia. 



Catherine 
favored 
reform 
but accom- 
plished 
little. 



to gain an outlet from the Black Sea via Constantinople 
aroused the antagonism first of England and France, and 
later of Germany, so that the struggle for Constantinople 
has been an important feature of international diplomacy 
during the last century. 

Before Peter's time traders and merchants had crossed 
the plains of Siberia. Like the French traders and ex- 
plorers who at this time were gaining the Mississippi 
Valley for France, and the Hudson's Bay Company trap- 
pers who were securing British America for England, 
even in Peter's day the merchants of Russia carried her 
rule to the Pacific. A few years later, Bering's explora- 
tions brought Russians to Alaska, which later (1867) was 
sold to the United States. In the nineteenth century other 
lands were added in central Asia and on the Pacific coast 
near Japan. Trade was an important factor in the making 
of the Russian empire as well as in the formation of the 
British empire. 

64. Catherine II of Russia. — The ruler of Russia from 
1760 to 1796 was Catherine II. Catherine was a German 
princess who came to the throne after the sudden death of 
her husband, the tsar. She was a woman of considerable 
charm, but was ambitious and unscrupulous. Catherine 
attempted to carry on the work of Peter the Great in 
making Russia a leading European power. She really 
wished to introduce in Russia reforms by which laws 
should be improved 1 and justice should be given to all, 
a larger share in government should be extended to the 
people, and serfdom should be abolished. She tried to 
establish national schools taught exclusively by Russian 
teachers. Actually she accomplished very little, for at 

1 Catherine called a great commission to codify the laws. To the 
commission she asserted that the nation is not made for the sovereign 
but the sovereign for the nation. Equality consists in the obedience of 
the citizens to the law alone ; liberty is the right to do everything not 
forbidden by law. War interfered with the completion of the code. 



RISE OF RUSSIA 75 

the end of her reign the serf was worse off than he had been 
at the beginning, and the people had gained only the forms 
of self-government. 

Catherine was more in earnest, and more successful, Catherine 
in her foreign plans. She seized territory on the Black Sea theter- 
and thus gained an outlet for Russian commerce through ritory of 
the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. She gained Baltic Russia - 
lands that gave Russia a seacoast on the northwest as 
well as on the south. Finally, with the cooperation of 
Prussia and Austria, she gained half of Poland. 

65. The Partitions of Poland. — In the seventeenth Disorgan- 
and eighteenth centuries there were two European coun- o^e^ancT" 
tries whose governments were badly disorganized and former 
which in consequence were a prey to their neighbors' pj^jj 88 ° 
cupidity. These two were Germany and Poland. As 
we have seen, the Rhine states of the Holy Roman Em- 
pire had not been able to protect themselves against 
Louis XIV, although the empire included the two powerful 
monarchies of Prussia and Austria. Poland, on the other 
hand, was an undeveloped country, backward in almost 
every respect and misruled by a large body of nobles, under 
the nominal leadership of a king. In the days of Queen 
Elizabeth, there had been reason to think that Poland 
might become one of the great powers of Europe. Her 
own people had begun to unite, she had acquired the 
" Baltic provinces " almost to the Gulf of Finland, and in 
1569 she had almost doubled her territory by absorbing, 
on equal terms, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Just at 
that crisis her king died without an heir and the Polish 
nobles never gave the people a chance to become a united 
nation. So undependable was the government that in 
the last half of the seventeenth century the annual diet of 
the nobles had broken up in disorder every year but four. 

Poland therefore fell an easy prey to the greed of her 
neighbors, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. In 1772 each 



76 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



annexed a piece of the unfortunate country. 1 This high- 
handed act called forth much adverse comment from other 
nations, but none was willing to fight in order to protect 
the Poles. Later Russia forced Poland to elect her candi- 
date as king, and twice later (1793, 2 1795) Poland was 




THE PARTITIONS 
OF POLAND 



Partition! 
66 of 1772 ^ 

Partition/ 
of 1793 \ 

Partition/ 
of 1795 \ 



Partitions of Poland 

further divided. Kosc-i-us'ko, who had fought with 
Washington, bravely tried to defend his country against 
the robbers, but without success. After 1795, Poland 

1 Prussia in 1772 gained West Prussia which joined the old mark of 
Brandenburg to East Prussia. This annexation was exceedingly- 
valuable in uniting Prussian territories. In the first partition, Austria 
gained Galicia, where so many battles have been fought in the Great War. 

2 Austria did not share in the second partition of Poland. 



RISE OF PRUSSIA 



77 



no longer existed as a separate country. Later, Russia 
(§ 171) gained most -of the Polish territory that in 1793 
and 1795 had been acquired by Prussia and Austria. 



The Rise of Prussia 

66. Early History of Brandenburg. — Russia was not 
the only new power that arose in the eighteenth century, 
for, under Frederick the Great, the country that we know 
as Prussia began to play an important part in European 
politics. Modern Prussia has grown out of the mark of 
Bran' den-burg , which was established as a bulwark or buffer 
state against the invasions of the Slavs. 1 By the Golden 
Bull (1356) the ruler of Brandenburg was recognized as a 
regular " elector " of the emperor, and for several centuries 
was called the elector of Brandenburg. Since 1415 the 
rulers of Prussia have belonged to the House of Ho-hen- 
zol'lern. 

The Hohenzollerns were not received with open arms 
by their nobles, but they quickly put an end to opposi- 
tion by using the fifteenth century prototypes of the Krupp 
guns which have been so destructive in the Great War. 
The second elector enlarged the boundaries of his mark. 
" From that day to this, with but one or two exceptions, 
each ruler in turn, by inheritance, by purchase, by con- 
quest, or by peaceful annexation, has added something to 
his original domains." 2 In 1618 the elector became the 
ruler of the duchy of East Prussia, a feudal dependency of 
Poland. 

Most of the people of Brandenburg were Protestants, 
but the elector did not become a Protestant until after 
his mother had lived for several months at the home of 
Martin Luther. 

67. Prussia before Frederick the Great. — The ablest 
ruler of Prussia before Frederick the Great was the 

1 E. E. C, § 462. 2 Henderson, Short History of Germany, II, p. 2. 



History 
before 1415. 



Branden- 
burg under 
the early 
Hohen- 
zollerns. 



Branden- 
burg 
becomes 
Protestant, 



78 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Rule of the 
" Great 
Elector" 
(1640- 
1688). 



Grand- 
father and 
father of 
Frederick 
the Great. 



Frederick 
and Prussia. 



The War of 

the Aus- 
trian Suc- 
cession. 



"Great Elector," who made himself absolute in his scattered 
possessions and by his skill in diplomacy gained important 
territories for Prussia. He encouraged the immigration 
of skilled artisans, especially of Huguenots who fled 
from France when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes. 
In 1701 the elector of Brandenburg became the king 

of Prussia. 1 His suc- 
cessor, the father of 
Frederick the Great, 
saved money, trained 
a large army, and 
gathered a famous 
body guard of giant 
grenadiers. 

68. Frederick the 
Great and His Wars. 
— Frederick the Great 
(1740-1786) became 
king of Prussia a 
quarter of a century 
after the death of 
Louis XIV, and fifteen 
years after Peter the 
Great passed away. 
Frederick was a man of ambition and intelligence, a 
warrior, a statesman, and a patron of the arts. 

Frederick had just become king when the Emperor 
died, leaving no son. The youthful Maria Theresa as- 

1 He now had no more territory than before, and of course Branden- 
burg was worth forty Prussias. Why then was he called king of Prussia 
and not king of Brandenburg? The reason is this: Within the Holy 
Roman Empire there was opposition to the creation of any more king- 
doms, but Prussia, unlike Brandenburg, was outside of the empire. 
The emperor was therefore persuaded, in return for money and troops 
that he needed in the War of the Spanish Succession, to let the elector 
of Brandenburg call himself king of Prussia. 




Maria Theresa Monument, Vienna 



colonial 
supremacy. 



RISE OF PRUSSIA 79 

cended the Austrian throne. Her father had tried to 
secure international agreements that her territories and 
power should be respected. Frederick the Great treated 
his written promise asa" scrap of paper"; immediately 
he tried to get the province of Silesia, to which he thought 
he had a fair claim. France and other countries joined 
him in his war against Austria. Maria Theresa found 
friends in England and Holland, but Frederick's victories 
in the field caused her to buy his withdrawal from the war 
by the cession of Silesia. This was the War of the Austrian 
Succession, known in America as King George's War. 

A few years later, in 1756, there broke out in Europe, Seven 
in America, and in Asia a great international conflict ^fthe " 
known as the Seven Years' War. This war was started conflict for 
in Europe by Frederick, who invaded Saxony on a pretext 
similar to that used by Prussia against Belgium a century 
and a half later (§ 437) . Prussia and England were arrayed 
against France, Austria, Spain, and other countries. It 
was a war between Prussia and Austria for supremacy in 
central Europe, ending with slight gains for Prussia. The 
world importance of the Seven Years' War consists in the 
contest for colonial supremacy, in the New World and 
the Old, between the decaying monarchy of Louis XIV 
and the new constitutional kingdom and empire of Great 
Britain. France lost all her colonies on the continent of 
America and in India (§ 86). The brilliant success of the 
English under the guidance of their great prime minister, 
William Pitt, marked the third step in the rise of England 
to the position of a world power. Frederick the warrior 
is one of the great heroes of the German nation, yet 
his activities in time of peace are far more deserving 
of our attention. In 1772 he joined with Catherine II of 
Russia in the treacherous partition of Poland. 

69. Frederick the Great in Peace. — Besides the grant- 
ing of religious toleration, Frederick II of Prussia intro- 



80 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



duced many reforms, for he was an intimate friend of 
Voltaire and had studied the works of other reform 
philosophers. Frederick was an enlightened despot, arbi- 
trary, absolute, and paternalistic. 

One of his first reforms was an attempt to improve the 
laws of Prussia. Although many changes were made dur- 
ing his lifetime, a complete code of laws of the country 
was not published until after his death. He sent some of 

his ablest lawyers to 
different parts of his 
kingdom in order to 
settle lawsuits that 
had been dragging on 
for years. 

He helped his peo- 
ple by draining the 
swamps and reclaim- 
ing the lands which 
had been waste. Upon 
some of these lands 
and some that were 
unoccupied, he settled 
immigrants, a few of 
whom came from out- 
side the boundaries of 
Prussia. Many of the 
foreign immigrants 
were skilled artisans, who not only carried on their own 
crafts to the advantage of Prussia but also taught the 
people better methods, for example, in making butter and 
in weaving silk. 

To protect home industries and also to gain revenue 
for those expensive undertakings and for the army, Fred- 
erick levied protective duties on the goods brought into 
Prussia. In spite of the fact that the government used 




Frederick the Great 



ABSOLUTISM ON THE CONTINENT 81 

more severe measures against smugglers than did the Eng- 
lish government against Americans who evaded the Navi- 
gation Acts (§81) * very little revenue was secured and in- 
dustry did not develop rapidly. 

Frederick abolished serfdom on the royal lands in the Attitude 
eastern part of his domain. But even he found it im- serfdom, 
possible to do away with serfdom, or greatly to relieve 
the serfs, on the lands of the nobles. 

70. Summary. — The reign of Louis XIV of France Age of 
was a period of display, the grande monarque being the oms 
first personage in Europe. Louis' minister, Colbert, 
improved the finances, created protective tariffs, and 
regulated industry. Louis counteracted the good effect 
of Colbert's work by spending vast sums on his palace 
and court at Versailles and on his wars, and by revoking 
the Edict of Nantes, thereby driving many thrifty Hugue- 
nots out of France. Because most of western Europe was 
united against him, Louis failed in four wars, those against 
the Belgians and the Dutch, and those fought for the 
possession of the Palatinate and to place his grandson 
on the Spanish throne. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) 
closed the period of French greatness but not of French 
absolutism. 

Modern Russia grew out of the principality of Mos- The rise 
cow after the Moscow princes threw off the Mongol yoke. ° Russia - 
The Europeanization of Russia was due largely to Peter 
the Great (1682-1725), who made himself absolute, 
brought in foreigners, and introduced western books, 
schools, and customs. Russia enlarged her territories to 
the Baltic Sea, at the expense of Sweden ; to the Black 
Sea, at the expense of Turkey ; and across Siberia to the 
Pacific Ocean. Under Catherine II, formerly a German 
princess, Russia gained half of Poland in the three par- 
titions of that misgoverned and unhappy country. 

1 Ashley, American History, §§ 121-123. 
G 



82 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Brandenburg, under the Hohenzollerns, became Prot- 
estant and acquired the duchy of Prussia. In 1701 the 
elector of Brandenburg assumed the title of king of Prussia. 
The two great Prussian rulers before the nineteenth cen- 
tury were the Great Elector and Frederick the Great. 
At the middle of the eighteenth century Prussia's terri- 
tories were much scattered, and in spite of the absolutism 
of her rulers and her dependence on militarism, she was 
inferior to Austria as a German power. Under Frederick 
the Great she was distinguished for her unscrupulous 
attacks on unoffending neighbors, e.g., Saxony and Poland, 
and for many of the qualities shown by twentieth century 

Prussia. 

General References 

Schville, History of Modern Europe, 200-247. 
Seignobos, History of Medieval and Modern Civilization, 
345-386, 406-433. 

Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, 

I, 1-82. 

Duruy, History of Modern Times, 311-433. 

Wakeman, The Ascendancy of France (Periods, V), 184-371. 

HassaU, The Balance of Power (Periods, VI), 1-279, 298-331. 

Morfill, Story of Russia. 

Dole, Young Folks' History of Russia. 

Rambaud, History of Russia, especially II, 13-126, 203-220. 

Henderson, Short History of Germany, II, 1-218. 

Cambridge Modern History, V., VI. 

Topic 

Peter the Great and His Work: Robinson and Beard, 
Readings in Modern European History, I, 57-63 ; Seignobos, 
Contemporary Civilization, 17-28 ; Rambaud, History of Russia, 

II, 33-39, 76-105 ; Howe, A Thousand Years of Russian His- 
tory, 84-123. 

Studies 

1. Louis XIV. Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern 
European History, I, 5-12. 

2. Court and ceremonial at Versailles. Seignobos, History 
of Medieval and Modern Civilization, 351-356. 



ABSOLUTISM ON THE CONTINENT 83 

3. Colbert. Duruy, History of France, 419-425. 

4. Wars of Louis XIV on the Belgians and Dutch. Duruy, 
History of France, 430-439. 

5. Warfare and armies on the Continent. Seignobos, 
History of Medieval and Modern Civilization, 375-386. 

6. The problems of the Spanish Succession. Robinson 
and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, I, 39-46. 

7. The sciences, literature, and arts on the Continent. 
Seignobos, History of Medieval and Modern Civilization, 419-433. 

8- Russia under the Mongols. Larned (ed), History for 
Ready Reference, IV, 2756-2758. 

9. How Peter the Great forced his people to wear western 
dress. Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modem European 
History, I, 61-63. 

10. Charles XII. Schville, Modem Europe, 221 -226. 

11. Government and reforms of Catherine II. Rambaud, 
History of Russia, II, 203-220. 

12. Partitions of Poland. Phillips, Poland, 58-87. 

13. Conditions in Europe at beginning of the eighteenth 
century. Hassall, Balance of Power (Periods, VI), 1-7. 

14. Prussia before the Thirty Years' War. Henderson, 
Short History of Germany, II, 1-8. 

15. Frederick the Great in time of peace. Henderson, 
Short History of Germany, II, 182-204. 

Questions 

1. In what way was Louis XIV famous ? In what respects 
was he great? Show how his court at Versailles was valued 
by the nobles and by other monarchs. 

2. What did Colbert do for France? Why was the revoca- 
tion of the Edict of Xantes an economic as well as a religious 
mistake ? 

3. Discuss Louis' objects in making war. Why did he 
fail? In what respect or respects did he succeed? Give the 
provisions, and show the importance, of the Treaty of Utrecht 
(1713). 

4. Trace the history of Russia before the time of Peter the 
Great. How did Peter learn western ways? How did he make 
himself absolute? How did he Europeanize Russia? 

5. Discuss the expansion of Russia ? Why is more seacoast 
a present need of both Russia and Germany? Will not the 
time come when Russia will seize the seacoasts that she needs ? 



84 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

6. Show why the Partition of Poland was possible in the 
late eighteenth century. Consider internal conditions (§ 65) 
and diplomacy of the period. Can you name any good results 
that followed the downfall of Polish rule? 

7. Is the policy of the ruling Hohenzollern different from 
that of his ancestors as explained in section 67? 

8. Why is modern Prussia largely the work of the Great 
Elector and of Frederick the Great? 

9. What was the general nature of absolutism in England 
during the seventeenth century and later on the Continent? 
How did it pave the way for revolution? Give a resume of 
the old order (consult |§ 111-119). 

10. Compare the absolutism of Frederick II of Prussia with 
that of William II of Germany (§§291,297). Show how the 
paternalism of Frederick has been developed since his time (cf. 
§ 302). Compare Prussian militarism of the eighteenth century 
with that of other countries in that day and with that of Ger- 
many to-day. 



CHAPTER IV 



STRUGGLE FOR COLONIAL AND COMMERCIAL 
EMPIRE 

71. Periods of International Conquest. — The struggle 
of the European nations for trade began earlier than that 
for territory. It was connected especially with the 
contest for a share in the eastern trade. After Columbus 
discovered America, however, in order that any people 
might have commerce, it was necessary that they should 
hold territory. In consequence large areas were seized 
and kept by the competing nations, not for homes, but for 
profit. Practically all of the colonizing was done by great 
commercial companies. Even among the English, who 
were the only distinctively colonizing people, that is, 
people who sought homes, the early colonies were estab- 
lished By commercial companies such as the Virginia 
Company. 

Before the close of the sixteenth century the contest 
was particularly sharp between Spain and Portugal, 
although even before that time the English, French, and 
Dutch were interested in distant trade. In the seven- 
teenth century the conflict was primarily between the 
Dutch and the English. From the Revolution of 1688 
to the overthrow of Napoleon in 1815, the great inter- 
national contest was between the English on the one 
side and the French on the other. 1 



How the 
struggle 
for trade 
became a 
contest for 
territory. 



Great rivals 
in the dif- 
ferent 
centuries. 



1 Although both France and England were particularly anxious to 
extend their foreign business, the contest was not simply a struggle for 
trade, but it included a world-wide effort to extend colonial dominions. 

85 



86 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Division of 

the non- * 

civilized 

world 

between 

Spain and 

Portugal. 



Reasons for 
the suc- 
cesses and 
failures 
of Spain. 



Fisheries 
as a train- 
ing for 
maritime 
power. 



Contest for Atlantic Trade before 1700 

72. Spain vs. Portugal. — Before the close of the six- 
teenth century Columbus and Ves-pu'ci-us had carried 
the flag of Spain to the tropical islands and mainland 
of the New World, Vasco da Gama had led the Portuguese 
around Africa to India, 1 and the Pope had divided the 
uncivilized world, giving Spain the western half and Por- 
tugal control in the eastern hemisphere. 2 

It will be seen from these statements that the rivalry 
between Spain and Portugal did not bring them actively 
into conflict. Spain found that the New World contained 
more land than she could occupy ; the mineral wealth 
of Mexico and Peru and the agricultural products of the 
West Indies furnished for her all the articles of commerce 
which her merchant marine could handle. In fact the 
great area of America dissipated rather than concen- 
trated the colonizing strength of Spain. In like manner 
her ability to seize the treasures of Mexico and Peru 
made her dissatisfied with the slower process of acquir- 
ing wealth by growing sugar, tobacco, and other tropical 
products on the plantations of the West India Islands. 
Coupled with the narrow policy of Spain toward business 
in the Spanish peninsula as well as in the colonies, 3 the 
development of Spain was superficial and her commercial 
prosperity was not solid or lasting. 4 

73. Dutch and English Fisheries. — In order to under- 
stand how different industries were connected with the 
international rivalry and contest for colonies, let us study 
some of them, the fisheries, the fur trade, tobacco, 5 

i E. E. C, § 656. 2 E. E. C, § 654. » E. E. C, § 693. 

4 Portuguese development was likewise superficial. We need not 
take up again the unfortunate methods used by the Portuguese in the 
East (E. E. C, § 656) ; we need simply note that because of those methods 
the Portuguese colonies fell an easy prey to the enterprising Dutch traders 
after the organization of the Dutch East India Company in 1602. 

5 Tobacco in Virginia is considered later (§ 78). 



ATLANTIC TRADE BEFORE 1700 



87 



and sugar. In a very true sense the commercial great- 
ness of Holland and England had a very humble origin. 
Long before the sailors and merchants of either nation 
gained control of the trade of northern Europe and of 
distant commerce with the East and America, they were 
learning the terrors of the deep through their fishing 
experiences in the North Sea. 

The Dutch made use of these fishing opportunities 
before the English appreciated their value. It is raid 



i 

1 


: i 1 
- ill 1 


k.1 i Ul/JAiiM, ^Lw^, 




1 1 1 \m- 


w 






Uk * t&Byl Fi i i 


'■M 


UU^t^L, itou 


•' "*'-fr- ! 


i 


>.' - ' <■ < a i Li 


Wmm&i fSuk% «§»? 


■ 




Ss^j* *- * ■ i *^*** 1 *™*^' 7 t 


jH&k: 




■' ' ' il| 




I 


mm 




E-~r-f" - 


^■§fc"<U> ■■ . ■ ^««» , ,-;. * ^^^'"''"i^Tmi' '"71 


s * 8 ^ Ipt - ' ^ - 


iiS-^?py^?i 


s •: ' " 431 



Dutch Fishing Boats 

that within three days, in the first year of the seventeenth 
century, fifteen hundred fishing boats sailed from Hol- 
land for the herring shoals of the North Sea. A few years 
later it was estimated that the value of the fish caught 
by the Dutch exceeded in value the manufactures of 
England and France combined. 1 English supremacy in 

1 With their usual thoroughness the Dutch perfected means of catch- 
ing, drying, and curing fish which were far superior to those in use among 
the English or any other peoples. The superiority of the Dutch methods 



88 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Reasons 
for French 
supremacy 
in the 
Newfound- 
land 
fisheries. 



Importance 
of the fish- 
eries in the 
settlement 
of New 
England. 



the fisheries of the North Sea did not begin until, during 
the later seventeenth century, England in a series of 
wars (§ 76) sought to destroy Dutch commerce. 1 

74. Influence of Fish and Furs in the Development of 
America. — When John Cabot and later voyagers brought 
word that the western sea around Newfoundland swarmed 
with fish, sailors from northern France and from western 
England set out for these more distant fields in which 
there was an abundance of fish for all comers. The 
French rather than the English took advantage of these 
opportunities 2 ; since the large number of holidays 
authorized by the Roman Catholic Church created a de- 
mand for fish which did not exist in Protestant England, 
after she separated from the church of Rome. The first 
serious attempt at colonization on the part of the French, 
which was made under Cartier and Roberval in 1540, 
was not successful; but the fishing business developed 
throughout the sixteenth century, and, in the early part 
of the seventeenth, made possible the first permanent 
French settlements in Acadia and at Quebec in Canada. 

When the Pilgrim Fathers established (1620) the first 
permanent settlement in New England, there were some 
fishing huts used by transient, fishermen on the New 
England coast. The food supply of the Pilgrims and of 
other Puritans who later settled in New England came 

and their skill in finding new markets for fish and other products made it 
impossible for either the English or the French to compete with them. 

1 The North Sea fisheries were more than an important source of 
wealth among the people of Holland, England, and other countries. 
The fishing fleets of each nation were convoyed and protected by armed 
vessels, which sometimes clashed. Out of this conflict grew international 
difficulties which have had an important influence on the development of 
international law. In connection with the fishing rights of the Dutch 
in the North Sea, Gro'ti-us, sometimes called the father of international 
law, wrote one of his most important books. 

2 On account of their location England and Holland made use of the 
North Sea fisheries, while the French took chief advantage of those off 
Newfoundland. 



ATLANTIC TRADE BEFORE 1700 89 

very largely from the sea, and the only profitable com- 
modity of commerce, which they sold in Europe and in 
the West Indies, was secured from the ocean. Without 
these fisheries it is therefore probable that the New Eng- 
land colonies would not have been very successful. 

The fur trade with the Indians of the interior of the Areas ex- 
northern states and Canada led to extensive explorations S-ff lted f y 
and to a well-developed trade. In the North, French fur European 
traders went far inland, penetrating the Great Lake countnes - 
region and the northern tributaries of the Mississippi 
river. The Dutch and later the English, through the 
powerful Iroquois Confederacy, gained control of an 
extensive fur trade south of the Great Lakes. There 
was developed later by the English in the Hudson Bay 
region a fur-trading company which was destined to bring 
under English dominion all western Canada. The fur 
trade was, therefore, a source of profit and led to explo- 
ration and even to armed conflicts between rival nations. 

75. Sugar and Slavery. — During the eighteenth and Reasons for 
nineteenth centuries the most important import of the ttl( r. mte , r " 

^ # r national 

United States was sugar. In the sixteenth and seven- importance 
teenth centuries the same thing was true of England, of sugar - 
since sugar was the most valuable commodity imported. 
Sugar cane grows only in a very hot climate. It .calls 
for labor which Europeans are unwilling and unable to 
furnish. Sugar has played an important part in the 
development of commerce and in international relations, 
because cane sugar, the only kind used before 1850 
(§ 209), cannot be grown in any part of Europe and 
therefore must be transported from tropical countries, 
preferably a country's own colonies. The growth of the 
sugar cane demanded a large supply of menial or slave 
labor, and therefore was largely responsible for the 
development of African slavery in America. For these 
reasons it caused an international struggle for the 



90 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Causes and 
extent of 
the African 
slave trade. 



Extent of 
the Dutch 
carrying 
trade in 
the seven- 
teenth 
century. 



islands and possessions where it could be grown most 
successfully. 

The Spanish tried to make use of the Indians as slaves 
on their plantations, but the natives did not prove hardy 
enough for such heavy work. In consequence, the Por- 
tuguese and Spanish traders soon sent to Africa for a 
supply of slaves to be employed on plantations for the 
cultivation of sugar, rice, tobacco, indigo, and other 
products. Native African princes at first sold the cap-' 
tives taken in war ; then a regular slave trade was organ- 
ized with the interior of the Dark Continent, the pur- 
chasers being Portuguese, Spanish, or English traders. 
In spite of great loss of life on the terrible " middle pas- 
sage " from Africa to America, large numbers of negroes 
were imported into the Spanish, French, Dutch, and 
English colonies, especially those in tropical and semi- 
tropical lands. It is said that the annual number brought 
to American plantations was about twenty-five thousand 
before 1700 and was four times that number a century 
later. In time the English gained practically a monop- 
oly of this slave traffic. 

76. The Dutch Carrying Trade and English Laws. — 
During the seventeenth century the best of these trade 
opportunities in the Atlantic area were seized by the 
Dutch. The Dutch traders carried most of the com- 
modities exchanged between Europe and the Spanish, 
French, and English colonies, as well as those of Holland 
in America. In addition, the Dutch practically monopo- 
lized the carrying trade between the countries of northern 
and western Europe. 1 

By the middle of the seventeenth century the English 
were determined to break this Dutch monopoly of the 



1 Half of the vessels which went to the Baltic were controlled by 
Holland ; nine tenths of those that entered English ports flew the Dutch 
flag. 



ATLANTIC TRADE BEFORE 1700 



91 



carrying trade for English goods. When Cromwell 
came into power, in 1651, a navigation act was passed. 
This was reenacted in 1660. It forbade the carrying of 
goods to or from England or her colonies except in vessels 
built in England or the colonies, or in ships of the country 
with which they were trading. This was the first important 
law in a series of acts of trade which caused the decline of 
Dutch shipping and commerce, and which had so much 
influence later in arousing the opposition of the American 
colonists to England. 1 The Dutch monopoly of the 
carrying trade, however, was not broken entirely by 
economic means. In a series of wars, begun under Crom- 
well and continued under Charles II, the English tempo- 
rarily destroyed the Dutch fisheries in the North Sea 
and interfered greatly with their trade in northern Europe 
and in America. 2 



English 

laws 

against 

Dutch 

carriers in 

England 

and 

America. 



Decline 
of Dutch 

commerce. 



English and French Colonies in the Seventeenth 
Century 

77. Motives and Methods of Early Colonization. — Policy of 
The European countries wished colonies chiefly for the Eur °pean 

» . . . ,. . countries 

purpose oi increasing their exports and adding to their toward 
wealth, particularly the supply of the precious metals. 3 colomes - 
In consequence the mother country almost always sought 
to secure from her colonies raw materials, which by the 
process of manufacture would increase greatly in value. 
She also sought to make her colonies markets for her 



1 Although Dutch shipyards continued to build about half the vessels 
constructed in Europe, the American colonists could build ships better 
and cheaper than even the famous shipbuilders of Holland. The reason 
for this was the abundance of excellent ship timber on the shores of New 
England and the Middle colonies, and the abundance also of naval sup- 
plies in the southern colonies. 

2 By the conquest of the Dutch colony of New Netherland in 1664 
they also gained control of the fur trade with the Iroquois Indians. 

•E. E. C, § 727. 



92 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Commercial 
nature of 
the early 
colonies. 



Religious 
motives of 
coloniza- 
tion. 



surplus manufactured products. In order to carry 
out this rather short-sighted colonial policy, it was 
necessary that the mother country should absolutely 
control all commerce between the colony and the outside 
world." 

As profits of colonial enterprise were at first uncertain, 
the earliest colonies were established by commercial com- 
panies such as the East India Company and the Vir- 
ginia Company. These commercial companies secured 
land grants, which gave them control of certain terri- 
tories and a monopoly of the trade within those terri- 
tories. Because most of these were organized for trade, 
they frequently possessed only a few scattered trading 
posts, about which a few homes of settlers were grouped. 1 
The English companies usually had the right to control 
their own affairs and govern the territory or colony which 
was established in the new lands. 

Colonies were established not only for trade but for 
religious reasons. People who had no religious freedom 
or toleration in Europe wished to gain for themselves a 
place in the world where they could worship as they 
pleased. In no case was it the intention of those colonists 
to have religious freedom, since their whole desire was 
to have colonies in which their church should be the only 
church and all people should worship as they dictated. 
Almost without exception these groups of religious ref- 
ugees were forced to depend upon the cultivation of the 
soil rather than upon trade for the maintenance of their 
colony. 

Only two types of colonies ever developed into real 
provinces. (1) One type consisted of colonies founded 

1 The Dutch settlements along the Hudson and Delaware rivers, and 
those of the French in the St. Lawrence, Great Lake, and Mississippi 
basins, were really trading posts, as were practically all of the colonies, 
or more exactly "factories," in the Hudson Bay region, as well as those 
in India and the East Indies. 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH COLONIES 93 

by religious refugees ; of these the New England colonies Two types 
were the best example. (2) Other provinces were agri- of rea . 1 
cultural settlements developed, as was Virginia, through 
the opportunities to establish profitable plantations and 
homes. 

78. Early History of Virginia. — At the close of the Attempts 
sixteenth century, Spain occupied all of the territory ^ rii 
from " Florida " to southern Peru, including most of to colonize. 
the islands of the West Indies. On the boundary of 
Florida Sir Walter Ralegh and his associates had sought 
to establish colonies, but three attempts on the part of 
the English left no permanent trace on the coast of the 
Carolinas. In 1606 a new company, the Virginia Com- 
pany, was organized for the purpose of colonizing the 
eastern coast of the present United States. One branch 
of this organization, the London Company, in 1607 made 
its first settlement at Jamestown, in the present state of 
Virginia. 

About ten years after Jamestown was founded, two importance 
things occurred which had a great influence upon the of the first 
history of England and America. In 1619 a representative legislature, 
assembly of twenty-two burgesses was allowed to meet 
with the governor and his counsellors in the first Ameri- 
can legislature. This assembly was afterward made 
permanent because King Charles thought it would be a 
convenient means of raising revenue in the new land. 

More influential in the history of Virginia, if not more Tobacco in 
important in American development, was the beginning Vir s inia: . 

. . . . commercial, 

of tobacco cultivation. The valleys of Virginia are wide political, 
and filled with a rich soil; the rivers are broad and and 1 ! ocial 

results. 

navigable for sea-going vessels for some distance. Con- 
sequently plantations were established along the shores 
of Chesapeake Bay and the banks of the adjacent rivers 
by Englishmen who provided a large amount of capital 
and needed an abundant supply of labor. These tobacco 



94 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



plantations made Virginia wealthy and prosperous. 1 
At the beginning labor was furnished by indented ser- 
vants and later by negro slaves. Naturally social dis- 
tinctions were prominent. The size of the plantations 
caused Virginia to adopt the county system of government 
which was in use in England (§5). 

79. The New England Colonies. — The struggle be- 
tween Charles I and the Puritans, which culminated first 
in the Petition of Right, then in the struggle with Laud 
over the form of church service, and finally in the contest 
with Charles over the levying of taxes in the form of ship- 
money (§ 29), led to the establishment of several Puritan 
colonies in New England. In the year after the Petition 
of Right was adopted, a group of English Puritans, belie v^- 
ing that the king and Laud would not give them churches 
such as they wanted in England, obtained a charter to 
lands in New England north of the settlement of the 
Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth. They established the 
colony of Massachusetts Bay, twenty thousand Puritans 
joining in a great migration to the New World 2 when arbi- 
trary church rule was followed by arbitrary taxation. 
These New England Puritans did not come to America 
for religious liberty, but in order to have a Puritan state 
and a Puritan church of their own. 

They were much interested in managing their own af- 
fairs. They met in their town meetings and looked after 
all their religious and secular business. They elected 
representatives to an assembly which met with the 



1 Tobacco had been unknown in Europe before it was imported from 
North America. As the demand grew rapidly, Virginia and many col- 
onies in the West Indies devoted especial attention to this crop, which 
gave the planter large profits. Its commercial importance is shown by the 
fact that Virginia was the only one of the "thirteen colonies" which suc- 
ceeded in exporting as much as it imported, all of the others being obliged 
to go into debt to the English merchants for the goods which they needed. 

2 See Ashley, American History, §§ 44-53. 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH COLONIES 



95 



governor and council of the colony in a legislature of two 
houses. Some of the more liberal Puritans migrated to 
the Connecticut valley, where they drew up a written 
constitution of their own (1639). As soon as Charles 
was forced to call Parliament (1640), the great migration 
closed, and many New England Puritans returned to 
the mother country. 

80. Conquest and Expansion. — Before the time of 
the Commonwealth in England (§ 32), there were Eng- countries 

in 1650. 



American 
colonies 
of European 




New Amsterdam 



lish colonists living in two definite groups of colonies on 
the Atlantic coast. In the South, separated from the 
Spanish town of St. Augustine in Florida by a wilderness 
several hundred miles wide, were the Virginia and Mary- 
land settlements. Further north, separated from these 
southern colonies by the Swedes on the Delaware and the 



96 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Union and 
expansion 
of the 
English 
colonies. 



English 
colonies 
of homes. 



Self-govern- 
ment in 
English 
colonies. 



Dutch in New Netherland, was a group of New Eng- 
land settlements extending from Long Island Sound 
into the woods of Maine. After another interval 
of wilderness, claimed by both English and French, 
were found the French colonies of the north Atlantic 
slope. 

In 1664 England conquered the Dutch colony of New 
Netherland, which had already absorbed the Swedish 
colony of New Sweden. This conquest united the Eng- 
lish colonies of the north and south. About the same 
time there was established south of Virginia a new colony 
of Carolina which sought to keep the Spanish from ex- 
tending their dominions northward. These Carolina 
settlements prospered because they were adapted to 
the growing of rice, sea-island cotton, and indigo. As 
they demanded a large and crude supply of slave labor, 
they gave a new impetus to that nefarious traffic, the 
slave trade. 

81. England and the Colonies. — The English colonies 
differed from those of other countries in many respects. 
Most important was the fact that the English colonists 
were real settlers or homemakers who had not been 
exported to America for the purpose of promoting Eng- 
lish trade, but who had on their own initiative gone to 
the New World to find homes for themselves. In 
consequence the English provinces were inhabited by 
more thrifty, earnest people than were any other 
colonies. 

The English colonists were therefore able to conduct 
their own affairs in a way radically different from that 
in use in other colonies. They were also treated far 
better by their home government. Even in the West 
Indies the colonies, temporarily, were allowed representa- 
tive assemblies. In several of the New England colonies 
the people elected the governor's assistants and in two 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH COLONIES 



97 



colonies, Rhode Island and Connecticut, the governors as 
well. 1 

The English government supervised the affairs of the 
colonies through a commission known as the Board of 
Trade. This board corresponded with the governors, 
gave them instructions, and decided which laws passed 
by the colonial legislatures and governors should be re- 
tained and which vetoed. They also supervised the laws 
of trade, 2 which were not well enforced, partly because the 
enforcement was left to colonial officers and inspectors. 

82. The French in Canada. — When Henry IV of 
France put an end to the disastrous religious and 
civil strife in that country, 3 commerce revived, industry 
prospered, and colonization began. Under Champlain, 
"father of New France," Canada was founded; later 
the French gained control of the whole St. Lawrence 

1 Where the governors were appointed by the crown, there was also 
a larger degree of self-government than there appeared to be, because 
these royal governors as a rule were not capable, efficient men, and the 
colonists ordinarily insisted that the assemblies rather than the governors 
should rule the colonies. The colonists were usually able to secure the 
upper-hand because by law the governors' salaries were paid by the 
assemblies. If the governors did not do as the assemblies wished, their 
salaries were withheld. 

2 When the first navigation law of 1651 was reenacted by the restora- 
tion parliament in 1660 (§ 76), it included a list of commodities known 
as enumerated articles which could be shipped from American colonies 
only to England. Among these enumerated articles were tobacco and 
sugar. This navigation law of 1660 was followed by later laws which 
compelled American merchants to buy their commodities in the Old 
World from England, thus giving English merchants a middleman's 
profit and control of the trade. In many cases these navigation acts gave 
the Americans advantages. For example, colonial ships were counted 
as English ships, Virginia and the Bermudas had a monopoly of the 
English tobacco market, and bounties were paid for naval stores and 
pig iron shipped to England. The English commercial policy was there- 
fore an advantage to the Americans, since they made use of all the help 
offered by the English laws and avoided all other provisions very cheer- 
fully and successfully, there being no moral sentiment against smuggling 
in either England or the colonies. 

3 E. E. C, § 702. 



Control of 

colonial 

affairs 

by the 

mother 

country. 



Expansion 
in St. 
Lawrence 
and Missis- 
sippi 
basins. 



98 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Nature of 
French 
rule and 
colonies. 



and Great Lake basin. About 1700 the French estab- 
lished the colony of Louisiana at the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi river and gained temporary control of that great 
river basin. 1 

The French did not deal wisely with their colonies. 
Either their government used the paternal system of 
Colbert (§ 56) and did too much, or it neglected them 
or sacrificed their interests by subordinating them to 
its political ambitions in Europe. There was no self- 
government in French colonies ; the people were ruled 
arbitrarily by a governor, the first executive official, an 
intendant who spied upon the governor, and a council 
appointed by the king. This council made the laws and 
established the courts, being itself the last court of ap- 
peal. This method of governing the French colonies 
was an advantage in carrying on war and in occupying 
territory, but it did not develop strong, self-reliant colonies. 
The government established a paternalism which sought 
to aid the colonies, but which succeeded only in weaken- 
ing them. Commercial monopolies interfered with indi- 
vidual enterprises, immigration was restricted by the 
ardor of the Jesuit priests, who kept out the Protestant 
settlers, while feudal estates and privileges placed bar- 
riers in the way of social progress. For the protection 
of the fine territorial domain that she had secured, France 

1 In 1608 Champlain founded Quebec and in later years penetrated 
the interior, laying the foundations for the colony of New France. Al- 
though seized by the English in 1629, New France was returned to 
the French through the influence of Richelieu, but it did not prosper until 
the time of Colbert (§ 56), who took a great interest in French explora- 
tion. The work of extending French influence in America was carried 
on by four different classes : first, the Jesuit missionaries, who established 
missions among the Iroquois and Algonquin Indians of the Great Lake 
basin ; secondly, the fur traders, who penetrated the interior in order to 
secure greater profits (§ 74) ; thirdly, the explorers, such as Joliet (zho- 
li-a') and La Salle, who visited the Mississippi basin and desired to extend 
the political as well as the religious and commercial interests ; and 
fourthly, a series of able governors. 



COMMERCIAL WARS 99 

at the middle of the eighteenth century could muster 
only eighty thousand inhabitants, while the rival British 
possessions boasted nearly a million and a quarter. 

Commercial Wars between England and France 

83. Summary of Wars from 1689 to 1815. — Having Eighteenth 
examined the commercial rivalry between nations for commercial 
the control of the Atlantic before 1700 and having noted wars. 
the development of English and French colonies on the 
continent of America during the seventeenth century, 
we are now ready to make a more careful study of the 
eighteenth century commercial wars between England 
and France which resulted in a victory for the English 
people and the temporary extinction of France as a coloniz- 
ing power. The name " Second Hundred Yeats' War " 
has sometimes been applied to this series of conflicts. 

The wars began when James II, protege of Louis XIV 
of France, was driven from the throne of England during 
the Revolution of 1688. Although due to dynastic rivalry 
between the houses of Bour'bon, which ruled France . 
and Spain during most of this period, and the reigning 
monarchs in England, this conflict of a century and a 
quarter was primarily for commercial supremacy. 

The first war, known as King William' 's War, from First 
William of Orange who succeeded James II, ended with- qq 89 !1 s 
out important result in the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). 1748). 
Five years later commercial rivalry, coupled with the 
ambition of Louis XIV to place his younger grandson 
on the throne of Spain (§ 59), led to the War of the Spanish 
Succession, which closed in 1713 with the Treaty of Utrecht. 
For a quarter of a century Europe was at peace. Then 
about 1740 England became embroiled with Spain over 
commerce in the West Indies, and Frederick the Great 
tried to wrest from Maria Theresa the province of Silesia 
(§ 68). The War of the Austrian Succession involved 



100 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Inter- 
mediate 
conflicts 
(1754- 
1783)., 



Napoleonic 
Wars 
(1793- 
1815). 



Territories 
and com- 
mercial 
gains for the 
English at 
Utrecht 
(1713). 



most of Europe and closed with the Peace of Aix-la- 
Chap-elle' (1748), which was really nothing but a truce, 
for war continued in India and broke out again in America 
before hostilities were resumed in Europe. 

In 1756 occurred the Seven Years' War, the greatest and 
most decisive of the early conflicts. It was a struggle 
between France and England for colonial supremacy in 
America and in India, resulting in the expulsion of the 
French from both areas. It was also a great European 
conflict involving the most important powers. It ended 
in 1763 at the Peace of Paris. ' Twelve years later the 
American colonies revolted against English rule, and 
were joined soon after by France, which sought to 
regain some of the possessions that it had lost during 
the Seven Years' War. Before the Revolutionary War was 
over, Spain and Holland were also at war with England. 
This war resulted in American independence, and caused 
many other losses for the English. It closed with the 
Treaty of 1783. 

During the French Revolution, the French not only 
executed their king, but they announced themselves as 
the champions of other peoples against their kings (§135). 
This precipitated in 1793 a war of Europe upon France 
which lasted with slight interruptions until the over- 
throw of Napoleon at Waterloo (§ 158). During these 
general European wars western Europe was made over 
socially. England extended her trade to the uttermost 
limits of the world, and the wars closed with considerable 
loss for France and the continued expansion of the British 
empire. 

84. Trade Advantages Gained by England through 
the First Wars. — The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) brings 
out clearly the gains made by the English in the New 
World as a result of the first two wars. In North America 
the French transferred to the English absolute control of 



COMMERCIAL WARS 101 

the territory draining into Hudson Bay, which had been 
occupied in part by the Hudson's Bay Company but had 
been disputed with French traders and " coureurs du 
bois" (bwa). The English also gained absolute title to 
the island of Newfoundland, which dominated the fisheries 
of the adjacent fishing banks. France, however, retained 
some fishing rights which were settled by international 
treaty. Acadia was the third French land surrendered 
to the English in 1713. With Newfoundland it controlled 
the entrance to the St. Lawrence basin. 

In the West Indies England secured numerous advan- Commercial 
tages, including the sole right for thirty years to import opportum- 
negro slaves into the Spanish West Indies. The English England 
also gained the right to send a ship yearly to trade with J? th ? 
the Spanish colonies. The English craftily took advan- West 
tage of this clause of the treaty and it is said anchored Indies - 
this ship outside of a Spanish port, taking on new cargoes 
as rapidly as possible from other English vessels, and 
transferring each immediately to eager Spanish merchants. 
The English also carried on with the Spanish islands an 
extensive illegal trade, both from Europe and from the 
English colonies on the mainland of America. In other 
words, the English instead of the Dutch became partners 
with the Spanish ; they had a practical monopoly of the 
lucrative West Indian trade, since the Spanish had 
practically no merchant marine of their own. 

85. The Struggle for the Mississippi and Canada. — The French 
Before the close of the seventeenth century England, m J™ a 
France, and Spain became interested in the colonization chain of 
of the Gulf coast and the lower Mississippi basin. Spain western 
settled at Pensacola, 1696, the French three years later 
occupied Mobile, and the English made land grants and 
prepared to occupy this territory. After the Treaty of 
LTtrecht, interest in colonization revived. The French 
settled at Natchez and at New Orleans on the Mississippi 



102 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



King 
George's 
War and the 
capture of 
Louisburg. 



The Seven 
Years' War 
and the 
capture of 
Quebec. 



river, the most important towns in their colony of Loui- 
siana. They connected these settlements at the mouth 
of the Mississippi with the towns of Canada by a series 
of forts or settlements at strategic points, such as St. 
Louis, Fort St. Joseph near Chicago, Detroit, and Fort 
Niagara. It was not until the middle of the eighteenth 
century, however, that France sought to occupy the val- 
ley of the upper Ohio. 1 

The French fortified Louisburg on Cape Breton Island 
at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, in order to checkmate 
the English in Newfoundland and Acadia. When Eng- 
land and France became the chief opponents in the War 
of the Austrian Succession, the colonies fitted out an expe- 
dition for the capture of Louisburg. With the aid of an 
English fleet this was seized. Great was the indignation 
throughout New England when, at the close of the war, 
Louisburg was restored to the French in exchange for 
the fortress of Ma-dras' in India. 

During the first period of the Seven Years' War, the 
English made little progress in their attempt to reach 
Canada, being defeated on Lake Champlain and at other 
points. After William Pitt became prime minister of 
England (1757), however, a much better army was organ- 
ized and abler leaders were appointed. The English 
then not only drove the French out of the upper Ohio 
valley, but occupied Niagara, which controlled two of 
the Great Lakes, defeated the French on Lake Cham- 
plain, and in 1758 under General Wolfe recaptured Louis- 
burg. The next year Wolfe attacked Quebec, which 
he captured after a long siege. He scaled the Heights 

1 A series of forts was erected from Lake Erie to Pittsburgh. The 
Virginians objected because they claimed this territory under an old 
charter, and war broke out when George Washington tried to uphold the 
claim of his colony. The French were left in possession of the disputed 
land in 1755, as General Braddock's force was defeated near Pittsburgh 
a year before the great Seven Years' War broke out in Europe. 



COMMERCIAL WARS 



103 



Europeans 
in India 
before 1700. 



of Abraham that commanded the city and defeated the 
forces of Montcalm, the great French commander. The 
fall of Quebec led 
easily to the occu- 
pation of Montreal 
and Detroit, in 
short, to the mili- 
tary occupation of 
Canada. 

86. The Struggle 
for India. — Since 
Vasco da Gama 
had reached India 
in 1498, Europeans 
had sought for a 
foothold on the 
shores of that pen - 
insula. Long be- 
fore 1700 the influ- 
ence of the Portu- 
guese had waned. 
The Dutch were 
next influential, especially at one or two points along 
the coast and on the island of Ceylon. The French had 
gained a foothold on the southeastern coast near Madras 
and in the north near the mouth of the Ganges. The 
British had trading posts at these two points and at 
Bombay on the northwestern coast. 

At this time India was divided into thousands of little Successful 
principalities whose rajahs usually recognized the sov- Asiatlc 
ereignty of some overlord. The power of the great India. 
Moguls had been declining since the days of their 
greatest emperor, Ak'bar. 1 A new power, that of the 
Mah-rat'ta Confederacy, was becoming influential through- 

1 E. E. C, § 573, n. 1. 




Pitt, Earl of Chatham 



104 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Leaders and 
methods 
of French 
and 
English. 



English 
victories 
in India. 



English 
victories 
after 1759. 



out the middle of the peninsula, but it never gained 
as much influence as the Moguls had exercised in the 
time of Akbar. 

French and English leaders did not try to play politics 
in Indian affairs until about the time of the War of the 
Spanish Succession. Later, a capable French general, 
Dupleix (Du-playO, followed the method of Caesar in 
Gaul of playing off the local leaders against each other. 
Dupleix also organized companies of native troops known 
later as sepoys. With the aid of Admiral La Bour-don- 
nais', who realized that France must keep control of the 
sea in order to gain dominion in the East, Dupleix might 
have gained control of India, if he had been properly sup- 
ported by the French government at home. Instead, 
both the Admiral and Dupleix were recalled before 
they had accomplished much, and the English, ably led 
by Robert Clive, adopted Dupleix's methods in employ- 
ing native troops and playing politics among the native 
princes. 

The result was that at the battle of Wan' de-wash (1760) 
the English gained a complete ascendancy in the Car- 
nat'ic, a strip of coast near Madras, and by the decisive 
victory of Plas-sey' (1757) they gained an ascendancy 
in Bengal at the mouth of the Ganges. By following 
up the latter they were able to organize Bengal within a 
few years into what might be called the first English 
'province in India. All these changes were wrought not 
by the English government and people, but by the East 
India Company, which continued to rule the British pos- 
sessions until after the sepoy revolt in 1857. 

87. Peace of Paris, 1763. — For nearly three years 
after war ceased in America and India, France and Eng- 
land continued the great conflict elsewhere. During 
this interval Spain was allied with France, but England 
continued to gain victories. In the West Indies she 



"1-0 




ape Ti/wn^ > 



3KLD IN 1763 

JATOR'S FRCJECTIGX 



-IATION OF COLORS 



English 
French 
Ottoman Empire 



*)=> Longitude Ea?t C0° fron 



100 



COMMERCIAL WARS 



105 



seized several French islands including Gua-de-loupe' and 
Mar-tin-ique'. The Spanish town of Havana in Cuba and 
the Spanish colonies of East and West Florida fell into 
her hands. The Philippines were occupied by England 
after peace negotiations were begun. By 1762 she was 
in a position to dictate to all her enemies terms of peace 
which were exceedingly favorable to the conqueror. 
Especially was this true in regard to territories, because 
the war had proved to be a colonial death struggle from 
which France emerged with Scarcely a trace of the mag- 
nificent territories which she had claimed at the begin- 
ning. 

In India France was left in possession of practically all English 
trading posts which she had at the beginning of the war, *^s°and 
but they were trading posts which could never grow into French 
colonies. The Philippines were restored to Spain, as osses * 
was the town of Havana, but the Floridas were retained 
by England. Since France had granted to Spain all of 
Louisiana including the Isle of Orleans, France lost to 
England all her possessions on the mainland of North 
America. These included Canada, and the eastern Mis- 
sissippi basin from the Mississippi river to the Allegheny 
Mountains. 1 In this way was France expelled from the 
North American continent. 



England and Ameeica (1763-1789) 

88. Reorganization of the British Empire. — The 
close of the Seven Years' War brought to England not 
only huge territories in America and important posses- 

1 The Mississippi was the dividing line between English and Spanish 
colonies and the navigation of that river was open to the inhabitants of 
both countries. Only two islets south of Newfoundland were kept by 
the French as fishing stations, and these were never to be fortified. 
In the West Indies France regained the important sugar island of 
Guadeloupe in addition to Martinique and St. Lucia, but England 
retained several less important French islands. 



106 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



sions in India, but compelled Great Britain to reorganize 
her empire. Since many of the new colonies were occu- 
pied chiefly by people who were not English and in some 
cases were hostile to English rule, it was necessary to estab- 
lish military government rather than self-government in 
these new possessions. It seemed necessary further to bring 
under a stricter control the older American colonies, which 
had shown themselves exceedingly independent. Among 
other changes was the enforcement of the old laws of trade 
(§81) which had either been made for the colonies or 
indirectly affected them. Since the Seven Years' War 
had brought to England a heavier burden of taxes than 
had existed before the war began, it seemed fair to 
British imperial statesmen that the colonies should 
now pay a larger share of the expenses of colonial 
administration. 

However necessary and desirable these changes might 
be from the imperial point of view, they seemed to the 
colonists unnecessary; to a modern observer many of 
them appear unwise. For example, the presence of troops 
in the new colonies aroused the fears of the older American 
settlers. To be asked to pay part of the expenses of 
these troops added insult to injury. Furthermore, the 
chief means by which the colonies had been kept depend- 
ent upon the mother country — that is, the presence of 
the French in Canada — had been removed by the war. 
Consequently the colonies objected to the reorganization 
of the British empire, which necessarily followed the 
enforcement of navigation laws. This reorganization, 
including as it did the levying of taxes and the enactment 
of new means of control, aroused serious opposition in the 
older colonies. Discerning statesmen, especially among 
the French^ did not hesitate to predict that the acquisi- 
tion of Canada by Great Britain would mean the loss of 
her older colonies. 



ENGLAND AND AMERICA 



107 



89. England's New Colonial Policy. — George III, 
who came to the throne in 1760, was the first English- 
born king of the Han-o-ver'i-an line. He was upright, 
sincere, and earnest, but without tact, narrow, and ex- 
ceedingly obstinate. As he was determined really to be 
king, it was necessary to overthrow the Whig aristocracy 
which had established the cabinet system of government 
(§ 43). Unfortunately the new laws which were made 
for the government of the American colonies became parti- 
san issues in the struggle between the king and Parlia- 
ment which lasted from 1763 to 1770. 

The new colonial policy of England is represented by 
four fairly well defined stages. (1) In order to secure 
revenue, the English government first decided to enforce 
the old navigation laws. To do this it was necessary 
to try smugglers without juries. This, in turn, aroused 
opposition because the smugglers preferred to be ac- 
quitted by their friends, and the colonists made a protest 
on the ground that they were entitled to a jury trial. 
In order to increase revenues, Parliament passed the Sugar 
Act, which practically reduced the prohibitive duties of 
the older Molasses Act to one half of the former rates. 
If these new regulations had been enforced, the business 
of New England and New York with the West Indies 
would have been ruined. 

(2) The English government further decided to levy 
upon the colonists a stamp tax similar to that in use in 
England. The colonies protested that their legislatures 
had the sole right of levying taxes, and there was con- 
siderable rioting and disorder when the stamped paper 
was sent to America. Stamp collectors were forced to 
resign, and in a few cases their homes were burned. A 
Congress of delegates from each colony protested against 
the Stamp Act as unconstitutional since it was taxation 
without representation. These protests, accompanied 



How 

American 

policies 

were mixed 

with British 

political 

questions. 



Enforce- 
ment of 
revenue 
laws of 
trade 
(1763). 



The 
Stamp 
Act (1765). 



108 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



British 
attempt to 
control 
colonial 
govern- 
ments 
(1767). 



Acts of 

Repression 

(1774). 



Separation 
from Great 
Britain 
(1776). 



by the refusal of the American merchants to buy goods 
in England or pay the bills which they owed in Europe, 
caused the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. 

(3) In order to show its authority and to pay the royal 
governors and judges, thus removing them from the domi- 
nation of the colonial assemblies, 1 the English Parliament 
now passed the Townshend Acts (1767). These provided 
for duties on goods imported into the colonies. One of 
these commodities was tea. When the American mer- 
chants boycotted the English merchants because of the 
Townshend Acts, all duties were repealed except that on 
tea. 

The tea tax led to further difficulties, culminating in 
1773 in the Boston Tea Party. The indignation of the 
English officials was so great at this outrage that several 
Repressive Acts were passed (1774). One of these closed 

the port of Boston to 
foreign trade and an- 
other suspended the 
Massachusetts charter. 
The people of that 
colony immediately 
formed a provisional 
government of their 
own and organized a 
colonial militia, whose 
members were known 
as minute men. 

90. Union and Inde- 
pendence in America. 
— In 1774 the colonies 
held the First Conti- 
nental Congress and organized the most complete union 
they had up to that time. The following year, after 

1 §81. 




Independence Hall, Philadelphia 



ENGLAND AND AMERICA 109 

hostilities had begun at Lexington and Concord, they 
met in the Second Continental Congress, which became a 
real government for the thirteen colonies. This Congress 
organized the army and conducted the war, and on July 
4, 1776, it declared the United States independent of Great 
Britain. Later it organized a regular union of the states, 
known as the Confederation. 

(1) In the first year of the war the British troops were Periods of 
forced to leave New England. (2) In the second period ^m^the 
of the war the English sought to occupy the middle col- Revoiu- 
onies, in which there were numerous loyalists. They ^^ ary 
seized New York, marched across to the American " cap- 
ital " at Philadelphia and sought to separate the New 
England states from those further South. 

Burgoyne failed in an invasion by the way of Lake Military 
Champlain when he was forced to surrender at Saratoga ^tTwar 
in 1777. The French, willing to humiliate England, 
formed an alliance openly with the United States in 1778. 
This divided the English forces, many of which were 
retained in Europe, and it gave the Americans the aid 
of a navy. (3) In 1781 Cornwallis, who had marched 
through the southern colonies, was forced to surrender at 
Yorktown to a French fleet and a combined American and 
French land force under Washington. This closed the 
Revolutionary War. 1 

91. Treaty of Paris, 1783. — The international situa- English 
tion in 1783 was exceedingly interesting. The failure of P artlsa ; n 

J quarrels 

England to subdue her revolting American colonies meant that 
that George III had failed to establish his personal ^f^l 
government (§ 328). He was forced, therefore, to call 
the Whigs back into power. These Whigs were divided 

1 One memorable event of this war was the heroic resistance offered 
by a small British force at Gibraltar through a terrible three-year siege. 
Gibraltar had been acquired by Great Britain in 1713. It is now con- 
sidered impregnable. The war was distinguished by one or two great 
naval victories for Great Britain. 



the treaty. 



110 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Interna- 
tional com- 
plications 
affecting 
the treaty. 



into two hostile factions, the old Whigs and the new 
Whigs. By playing off these factions against each other, 
the American commissioners were able to secure conces- 
sions which otherwise they would have been unable to 
obtain. 

These American successes were due not simply to the 
quarrels in the English government, but to the fact that 
England had been at war with four countries, the United 
States, France, Spain, and Holland. England's sole 
hope of success lay in persuading either France or the 
United States to make a separate treaty, as she would 




Signatures, Treaty of Paris, 1783 



Provisions 
of the 
treaties 
of peace. 



then be in better position to dictate to the others. For 
this separate treaty the English government labored un- 
ceasingly. They practically made one with Franklin and 
Jay, although it was not binding until a treaty had been 
made between Great Britain and France. 

The Treaty of Paris accepted the independence of the 
United States, gave us the Great Lakes as a boundary 
in the north, and the Mississippi on the west; and it 
secured for us the right to navigate that river and to fish 
off Newfoundland. Florida was transferred to Spain 
again, and in general territories or islands that had been 
captured by either side were returned to their former 
owners. It will be noticed that the United States was 



ENGLAND AND AMERICA 111 

the only country that gained important advantages from 
the negotiations or treaties. 

92. The United States Constitution. — The United Defects of 
States consisted of thirteen states united in a Confed- deration. 
eration, organized in 1781, which was based upon state 
sovereignty. The government of this Confederation con- 
sisted of a Congress in which each state had one vote. 
Owing to the fear among the states of any central author- 
ity, the union was very imperfect, and the Congress had 
comparatively little real authority. In fact the Confed- 
eration did not even have sufficient power to raise revenue 
to pay interest on its war debt. It had no power to regu- 
late the commerce between states, which was a constant 
source of friction between them. It could not enforce 
the few laws which it attempted to make. Finally, since 
the Articles of Confederation could be amended only 
by the unanimous vote of the states, it was impossible 
to remedy any of these defects. 

After six years of growing confusion and dissatisfac- Adoption 
tion, a constitutional convention met at Philadelphia and ° re ° S g^ t 
drew up a new Constitution. The union was no longer national 
based upon the sovereignty of the separate states. The ^°£ stltu " 
government consisted of a Congress of two houses, a Sen- (1787-1789). 
ate and a House of Representatives. There was to be a 
President elected for four years, and national courts whose 
judges were appointed by the President with the consent 
of the Senate. To this Congress were given rather 
definite powers for the control of military affairs, 
and other duties which the government of a nation 
needs for the protection of the common interests of its 
people. 

Before 1800 the American people had made several ^ns^f* 1 " 
important contributions to the history of the world. America 
First, they had practiced religious toleration and had ^ ri^ e beforo 
finally abandoned state churches altogether, that is, they 1800. 



112 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Conditions 
and trade 
before 1700. 



English and 
French col- 
onies in 
America. 



had established religious liberty. Secondly, they had proved 
that a people, not simply a small community but in a large 
nation, could govern itself. Thirdly, they had changed their 
colonial charters into regular written constitutions which 
they made the fundamental law of the separate states, and 
they had afterwards adopted a similar constitution for 
the whole nation. Fourthly, they had united a group of 
separate autonomous states into a single union. This 
was neither a confederacy, that is, a league of states, 
nor a highly consolidated state, such as France seemed 
to be, but was a single united Federal State. 

93. Summary. — After the discoveries of Columbus 
and Vasco da Gama, international trade expanded rapidly. 
At first, Spain and Portugal had the best trade, one with 
the West, the other with the East. Then Holland gained 
chief control of the eastern trade, and of the carrying 
trade in northern Europe and in America. Dutch mari- 
time development was due in part to experience gained in 
the valuable North Sea fisheries. In America four typ- 
ical occupations furnished the basis of foreign trade, 
namely, the Newfoundland fisheries, the fur trade, sugar, 
and tobacco. 

Having broken the Dutch monopoly of the carrying 
trade and Atlantic commerce by acts of trade and by wars, 
England sought by many means to outstrip her next 
rival, France. In America, Virginia, founded in 1607, 
owed her first success to tobacco, which found a ready 
market in England. The religious controversy between 
high churchmen (§ 29) and the Puritans drove many 
thousand Puritans to New England (1629-1640). After 
the Restoration (§ 34) Dutch New Netherland was 
conquered and the Carolinas were established. England 
left these colonies alone, for she did not enforce the acts 
of trade, which would have been harsh and unjust. In 
Acadia, Canada, and Louisiana the French had trading 



STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE 113 

centers and colonies which they supervised, not wisely 
but too well. 

Colonization alone would never have given England Commer- 
a victory over France. War was also a means of com- ^ alwa ** sof 
mercial development. From 1789 to 1815 the two coun- and France 
tries were only intermittently at peace, and England was y^T 
almost uniformly successful except in the Revolutionary 
War. Even in that contest the English navy, an impor- 
tant cause of commercial supremacy, defeated the French 
fleet except in the skirmish before Yorktown (1781) 
(§ 90). In 1713 (Utrecht) England gained Acadia, all 
Newfoundland, and the area draining into Hudson 
Bay, beside trade advantages in the Spanish West Indies. 
In 1763 (Paris) she acquired all France's possessions in 
America except Louisiana, after several successful cam- 
paigns in the Seven Years' War. That conflict also wit- 
nessed the defeat of the French and their native allies in 
India. 

After 1763 it was necessary for Great Britain to reor- Great 
ganize her now greatly enlarged empire and bring her Br \ t£ }V* 
undisciplined American colonies under her control. By United 
a series of acts, the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act q*^. 
(1765), the Townshend Acts (1767), and the Repressive 1789). 
Acts (1774), she tried to tighten her grip on the colonies, 
without success. In 1775 they revolted, in 1776 declared 
themselves independent, in 1777 at Saratoga captured 
one army, and in 1781 at Yorktown captured another. 
At Paris, in 1783, the United States was recognized as 
independent and acquired all territory from the Atlantic 
to the Mississippi and from the Great Lakes to the 
Floridas. This new nation in 1781 formed a Confedera- 
tion, which was defective in many respects because, pre- 
sumably, it was based on state sovereignty, but in 1787 
it organized a better union, made a new Constitution, 
and created a Federal State. 



114 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

General References 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, I, 49- 
73, 242-260, 299-341. 

Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern Europe, I, 34-49, 
68-71, 80-121. 

Seeley, The Expansion of England. 

Woodward, The Expansion of the British Empire. 

Day, History of Commerce, Chaps. XV, XVIII-XXI, XXIV. 

Yeats, Growth and Vicissitudes of Commerce, 179-291. 

Mahan, Influence of Sea Power on History. 

Andrews, C. M., in American Historical Magazine, 20 (1915), 
539-556, 761-780. 

Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century, II, 1-23, 483-486, 
541-551, III, 290-500, IV, 1-70, 130-220, 240-289. 

Topics 

Tobacco in Virginia: Coman, Industrial History of the 
United States (rev. ed.), 56-58; Channing, History of the United 
States, I, 208-226; Fiske, Old Virginia, I, 174-177; Bruce, 
Economic History of Virginia, I, 432-457, II, 337-340 ; Com- 
mons and Andrews (eds.), Documentary History of American 
Economic Society, I, 186-188, 208-214, 245-251, 326-328. 

Relations between England and the Colonies before 
1763 : Ashley, American History, 128-135; Hart, American His- 
tory Told by Contemporaries, II, Nos. 48, 51, 53, 55, 65, 66; 
Lecky's American Revolution, 38-53 ; Russell, Review of American 
Colonial Legislation by the King in Council. 

British and French in India : Robinson and Beard, Develop- 
ment of Modern Europe, II, 87-100 ; Woodward, Expansion of the 
British Empire, 71-85, 176-181, 196-205. 

Peace of Paris (1783) : Ashley, American History, 183-185; 
Fiske, The Critical Period, 1-36 ; McLaughlin, Confederation and 
Constitution, 18-34 ; Lecky's American Revolution, 464-485. 

Studies 

1. Dutch Commerce. Yeats, Growth and Vicissitudes of 
Commerce, 215-225. 

2. French sugar trade. Andrews, C. M., in American 
Historical Magazine, 20 (1915), 549-551. 

3. The slave trade. Spears, Slave Trade in America. 



STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE 115 

4. Reasons for colonization. Cunningham, Growth of English 
Industry and Commerce in Modern Times, I, 331-341. 

5. Work of Champlain. Parkman, Struggle for a Continent, 
88-106, 120-124. 

6. French policies in Canada. Parkman, Struggle for a 
Continent, 169-173, 314-318. 

7. The Treaty of Utrecht. Robinson and Beard, Develop- 
ment of Modern Europe, I, 42-49. 

8. The West India trade. Andrews, C. M., in American 
Historical Magazine, 20 (1915), 761-767 

9. The French in the West. Parkman, Struggle for a Con- 
tinent, 156-164 (256-264), 297-300. 

10. Capture of Quebec. Fiske, New France and New Eng- 
land, 349-359. 

11. The Stamp Act. Channing, Student's History of the 
United States (rev. ed.), 116-124. 

12. The Second Continental Congress. Hart (ed.), Ameri- 
can History Told by Contemporaries, II, No. 185. 

13. The French Alliance. Van Tyne, The American Revo- 
lution, 217-226. 

14. American vs. French interests in treaty negotiations. 
Fiske, Critical Period, 17-25. 

Questions 

1. Name the different countries which contended for com- 
mercial supremacy in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth 
centuries respectively. Show the difference between the 
Portuguese and Spanish results. Explain how the North Sea 
and Newfoundland fisheries developed a merchant marine as 
well as furnished valuable articles for trade. 

2. Show the importance of fish, furs, sugar, and tobacco 
respectively in the development of trade before 1776 between 
Europe and America. Explain the nature of the Dutch trade 
before 1700 and show how England gained control of most of it. 

3. Name several motives affecting colonization and indicate 
the influence of each on particular groups of colonies. Show how 
the struggle between Charles I and Parliament influenced the 
settlement of New England. Notice how. England gained 
control of the territory between her northern and southern 
colonies and that south of Virginia. 

4. What were England's methods of governing and con- 



116 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

trolling the trade of her American colonies ? How did the French 
treat their colonies in the Great Lake and Mississippi basins? 

5. Name the different conflicts in the "Second Hundred 
Years' War" between England and France; give causes, im- 
portant event or events, and results of each. 

6. What was the nature of the trade gained by England 
through the Treaty of Utrecht with the Spanish West Indies ? 

7. Show how the French occupied the Mississippi basin, 
how the English gained control of Quebec and Canada, and 
how England gained advantages over France in India. Give 
provisions and show importance of the Peace of Paris, 1763. 

8. Compare methods used by England before 1763 (ques- 
tion 4) with those adopted by Great Britain after that date. 
Discuss each of the four steps in the development of the new 
colonial policy after 1763. 

9. Show that independence from Great Britain and union 
of the colonies necessarily took place at the same time. De- 
scribe the military events of each of the three periods of the war. 
Show how events in Europe and particularly in England gave 
us a favorable peace treaty in 1783. 

10. Explain the nature of American government under the 
Confederation, showing its main defect and naming several 
specific defects. Describe the government under the present 
Constitution. Name several important contributions of the 
United States to the world and explain each as fully as possible. 



CHAPTER V 

REFORM 

Beginnings of Modern Treatment of Crime 

94. Crime in England. — The rights of the common Numerous 
people under the law depend (1) upon the liberty or p^^bie 
bondage of the individual, and (2) upon the laws dealing by death, 
with crime. We have already discussed personal freedom 
under the subjects of serfdom and villeinage (§§ 7, 8). 
In some ages it has been considered a crime for a peasant 
or common man to protect himself or his family ; in others 
the common man has had comparatively few rights 
which the law respected and the government safeguarded. 
When we observe that in England in the middle of the 
eighteenth century no fewer than one hundred and 
sixty crimes were punishable by death, we infer that the 
government was little interested in the welfare of the 
people. 

The reason for so many severe laws undoubtedly was the city watch- 
great amount of lawlessness in England before the nine- menand 

their 

teenth century. In the London of Queen Anne and the problems, 
first Georges the streets were little safer than they were 
in the Middle Ages. 1 Even when robbers and highway- 
men, not to say murderers, did not disturb the chance 
traveler, the " young bloods " returning from a dance 
or a frolic were ready for mischief such as we do not toler- 
ate even on Hallowe'en or other festive occasions. The 
streets were patrolled by watchmen, but these men were 

1 E. E. C. § 553. 
117 



118 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Highway 
robbers and 
smuggling. 



Effect of 
the new 
guard and 
street gas 
lights. 



Methods of 

arresting 

offenders. 



usually feeble old pensioners who did little but walk the 
streets and call the hours. When not actively engaged 
in duty, these old watchmen were likely to fall asleep in 
their boxes. It was a favorite pastime of the " young 
bloods " to overturn the boxes if the watchmen had 
fallen asleep inside. Peace-loving burghers were terror- 
ized by gangs of young rowdies, who took picturesque 
names, such as that of the Mohawks. 

On the roads outside of the cities, travelers were likely 
to be held up by highwaymen of the Dick Turpin type. 
Along the seacoast, fishermen and other inhabitants 
made a business of smuggling from the seacoast towns 
of France or the Netherlands. Since the moral sentiment 
of practically all seacoast communities favored this, 
the government had great difficulty in breaking up the 
gangs. 

About 1750 the large English cities replaced the old 
watch by a new guard of younger, athletic policemen. 
The new guardsmen made the streets much quieter and 
safer. The most effective restraint upon crime in the 
streets, however, was the introduction, at the close of the 
eighteenth century, of illuminating gas for street lighting. 
It made the detection of offenders much easier. 

95. Treatment of Criminal Offenders. — The English 
system of trying offenders was very much more modern 
than that in use on the Continent. An accused person 
was arrested openly by a police officer and on a warrant. 1 
In France on the contrary an arrest might be by lettres de 
cachet (caa-shay'). These letters were private statements 
made by a person of influence. They provided that an 
offender of good social position could be arrested without 
publicity ; they also permitted men secretly to put their 
enemies in prison. 

1 Notice the opposition of James Otis to the use of general search 
warrants in America. Ashley, American History, § 122. 



TREATMENT OF CRIME 



119 



While awaiting trial, the person accused of crime was imprison- 
kept in a loathsome dungeon. Unless his crime was mento f 

accused 

punishable by death, even in England he had no attorney persons and 
to represent him. Before 1679 he could not claim sue- ^nTand 8 * n 
cessfully the privilege of habeas corpus, although after the 
Revolution of 1688 this writ was obtained more easily. 
Frequently it was difficult for a person awaiting trial, or 
even for a witness who was held in prison, to obtain bail. 




Newgate Prison, Eighteenth Century 



In France and in other countries on the Continent 
there was no provision for quick trial, and the person 
who was accused of crime was usually tortured before the 
trial was held. He might be subjected to intense heat 
or have water poured into his stomach and lungs. He 
might be held up by the thumbs or tortured on the rack. 
He might even have his bones broken by the jailer and 
afterward be bound to a cart wheel. There was no bail, 
and witnesses as well as accused persons were usually 
kept in prison. 

96. Trials in England and on the Continent. — When 
a man was accused of crime in England, there was an 
open trial before a jury, but the defendant was held to be 
guilty until his innocence was proved. Fairness requires 
it to be said that English juries usually refused to con- 



Treatment 

before a 
trial of 
persons 
accused 
of crime, 
on the 
Continent. 



Trials and 
punish- 
ments in 
England. 



120 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



vict persons of minor crimes if the penalty was death ; 
thus many laws providing for capital punishment were 
nullified. Often too the jury declared the prisoner guilty, 
not of the offense with which he was charged, but of a 
similar charge for which there was lighter punishment. 
For the death penalty, transportation to an English 
colony was sometimes substituted — first to America, later 




Bow Street Police Court 



Secret con- 
tinental 
trials. 



Torture in 
trials: old 
uses and 
abolition. 



to Australia or Tasmania. Until 1783 the execution 
of a criminal was the scene of a procession and cele- 
bration, a display much desired by criminals who sought 
notoriety. 

On the Continent, trials were secret. Witnesses were 
examined secretly; occasionally even they were subjected 
to torture. The trial occurred before a judge, not a jury, 
and the prosecutors did not give the prisoner a real 
chance to meet his accusers or to know the evidence 
presented against him. 

97. The Abolishment of Torture. — Many reformers 
had preached against the use of torture, but Frederick 
the Great of Prussia was the first to abolish it in connec- 



TREATMENT OF CRIME 



121 



tion with trials. In other countries torture as a means 
of extracting evidence before a trial was discontinued 
about the same time. Later it was abandoned altogether, 
in France and Austria before 1800, in Spain and Italy 
during the nineteenth century. The abolition of torture 
was a reform largely influenced by Bec-ca-ri'a. 

Beccaria (1738-1794) was an Italian reformer who 
argued that the object of imposing penalties for crime 
was the protection of society rather than the punishment 
of the offender. He advocated light penalties, maintain- 
ing that people are deterred from crime more by the cer- 
tainty than by the severity of the punishment. He 
urged that every man accused of crime should be treated 
as innocent until he had been proved guilty and declared 
that secret trials were unjust and unsuccessful, therefore 
all trials should be public. 

98. Howard and Prison Reform. — The prisons of the 
eighteenth century were used comparatively little for the 
punishment of convicts ; 
they were filled chiefly with 
debtors, persons accused 
of crime, and witnesses. 
They were dark and fre- 
quently were underground. 
So unsanitary were most 
prisons that a special form 
of disease called jail fever 
was prevalent. Prisoners 
were herded together with- 
out regard to age, sex, or 
the nature of their offense, 
and they were dependent 
for food upon jailers who 
refused to give it to them unless bribes were paid. 

Many people had realized the inhumane conditions of 




John Howard 



Writing of 
Beccaria 
on penal 
reform. 



Objection- 
able char- 
acter of the 
eighteenth 
century 
English 
prison. 



122 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Work of 

John 

Howard 

and 

Elizabeth 

Fry. 



prison life and treatment, but nothing was done until 
John Howard, himself a jailer, demanded reform of the 
worst abuses. Howard visited not only most of the jails 
of England but many of those on the Continent. He 
worked unceasingly for the improvement of the prisons 
and for a more humane and sensible treatment of the 
prisoners. Through his efforts Parliament was induced 
to pass laws which provided for reform penitentiaries, 



,'!.. : ■■■■;■■■■■■■ : 




: 


: 


ft 






v.. ., ; , ;; ,^:. : 




\ 


■ ; " ■" - . ■ . 




: :: ^PI Pi 



The debtor 
and prison. 



Elizabeth Fry Reading to Women in Prison 

but the first laws remained a dead letter, especially after 
the death of Howard. In the next century Elizabeth 
Fry spent many years teaching inmates of English prisons 
and working among them. She did much to improve the 
condition of the prisons of that country. In America 
and also on the Continent, after 1830 the prisons were 
decidedly better than those of the eighteenth century. 

Social and Religious Changes 

99. Problems of Poverty. — As already noted, a large 
number of the inmates of prisons were debtors. Such 



SOCIAL CHANGES 123 

imprisonment, however, did much to injure debtors and 
little to help them. Although debtors were kept in prison 
until their debts were paid, prison life offered no good 
opportunity for earning money with which to pay off in- 
debtedness. In short, the prison methods of the eight- 
eenth century failed either to discourage crime or to 
reduce poverty. 

As we shall see later (§§ 183-185), there was at this Condition 
time a great transformation in English agriculture which of vanous 
caused distress and pauperism. When the commons and 
waste lands were inclosed, most of the cotters who had 
lived on those fields in tiny huts or cottages surrounded 
by garden plots were deprived of their homes and of the 
opportunity to keep shacks and some chickens or to raise 
food in their gardens. Some became day laborers ; some 
went to the new industrial towns ; some became public 
charges. The lot of many of the old tenant farmers or 
freemen was worse at the end of the century than at the 
beginning, for they were now quite unable to eke out a 
living. Before the invention of new spinning and weaving 
machines (§§ 187, 188), they had spun yarn and woven 
cloth at odd times in their homes. When the new fac- 
tories were opened, they were deprived of these employ- 
ments, which had helped to give them a decent standard 
of living. Although some of them went to factory 
towns, many were obliged to apply to the poor-relief 
authorities for help. 

An attempt was made at this time to modify the Eng- increase in 
lish poor laws, 1 in order to help those classes which were t] ? e volume 
in dire need. Since prices were very high, it became the relief. 
custom 2 to give to all families which did not earn a living 
wage such an additional sum as was absolutely necessary 
for their support. Human nature will not withstand 
much temptation, and the results of this may easily be 

» E. E. C, § 715. * Speenhamland system, 1795. 



124 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



New public 
interest and 
reforms. 



Improve- 
ments in 
surgery and 
medicine. 



imagined. The poor rates increased fivefold from 1750 
to 1800 and fivefold again from 1800 to the enactment 
of the new poor law in 1834 (§ 490). 

100. Practical Philanthropy. — Since people were grow- 
ing more humane and were discussing and thinking much 
about the rights of man, a great deal more was attempted 
through private charity in the last half of the eighteenth 
century than in earlier ages. In former times most de- 
pendents had been huddled together in the almshouses, 
aged and children, men and women, the blind and 
the diseased. Now there were established a number 
of orphan asylums which cared for children who would 
otherwise have been sent to the almshouses. Charity 
schools were frequently provided by philanthropists for 
the education of these and other poor children. A num- 
ber of hospitals were to be found in the large cities, es- 
pecially London and Paris. It cannot be said of these 
institutions that they were well managed or that their 
methods were modern or successful, but they were cer- 
tainly better than none. 

101. Improved Sanitation. — Nowadays epidemics are 
almost unknown, but in the eighteenth century epidemics 
of children's diseases were the rule, and severe epidemics 
of smallpox, cholera, and the plague were not exceptional. 
In order to fight the worst curse of all, that of smallpox, 
use was made of inoculation. This inoculation of the 
patient with smallpox was practiced with little children 
because the disease is light with them, but it was also 
used somewhat with adults. After 1796, when Jenner 
developed a system of inoculation with cowpox, this 
dreadful scourge became less common. 

The control of epidemics was influenced greatly by im- 
provements both in the treatment of disease and in sani- 
tation. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the 
practice of surgery was almost entirely in the hands of 



SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CHANGES 125 

the barbers. The physician looked down upon the sur- 
geon and continued to do so even in later years when 
the surgeon, no longer a barber-practitioner, was better 
educated than the physician. There were, of course, 
some improvements in the practice of medicine. 

Some effort was made toward greater cleanliness of improve- 
person and the home. That sanitation was not improved mentsm 

sanita- 

as much as it should have been is shown by the very tion. 

high death rate of English towns until 1850. In some cases 

the annual death rate went above fifty per thousand, 

although that of the average American city to-day 

is below fifteen per thousand. Even in London the 

death rate was higher than the birth rate. Growth of. 

towns depended entirely on migration from country to 

city. 

102. Suppression of the Jesuits. — An important Nature of 

change of the later eighteenth century affected the reli- ^ e Societ y 

iii t • i-i ■ i of Jesus - 

gious body known as Jesuits. This order, starting at the 

time of the Reformation, was well disciplined, thorough, 
and successful for many years. As time passed the 
Jesuits grew wealthier and more powerful. They wielded 
much influence in the church, and therefore did not al- 
ways enjoy the full confidence of the secular clergy. Not 
only did they have numerous and excellent schools, but 
they exercised much political power. Again and again it 
happened that a Jesuit pupil became king and that a 
Jesuit priest was thought to be the " power behind the 
throne." 

In many cases the Jesuits had earned the dislike of Action 
other church officials, of nobles and kings, and of mer- tak ? n , 
chant burghers in the growing cities. Naturally they Jesuits. 
aroused the envy of those classes that desired their power 
or the business which they were said to. have in Europe 
and in America. Their enemies were exceedingly active 
and determined to suppress the order. The Society of 



126 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Jesus was abolished in Portugal in 1759, and within a few 
years its members were expelled from France, Spain, 
and other countries of Europe. In 1773 the Pope was 
persuaded to suppress the order, but in October, 1814, 
it was reestablished. 



Philos- 
ophers and 
Economists. 



Influence 
exercised 
by these 
writers. 



Reform Philosophers 

103. Names and Work of the Philosophers. — The re- 
form movement of the late eighteenth century was in- 
fluenced greatly by a number of philosophers, among 
whom the Frenchmen Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and 
Rousseau were most important. It was also influenced 
by the work of the new economists, especially Quesnay 
and Adam Smith. 

When people read the writings of these men they 
understood better why an absolute monarchy was ob- 
jectionable and why the existing privileges of nobles 
and clergy were unfair. Over the benevolent despots 
(§§ 107-109) the philosophers exercised considerable influ- 
ence, because several of the enlightened rulers of Europe 
tried to put into practice some of the reforms advo- 
cated by them. We must not imagine that they caused or 
greatly influenced the French Revolution. As expressed 
by an able American historian, " The great French writers 
of the eighteenth century exercised by their works a 
smaller influence on the outbreak and actual course of 
the French Revolution than has been generally supposed. 
The causes of the movement were chiefly economical and 
political, not philosophical." x 

104. Montesquieu and Voltaire. — The earliest of these 
French philosophers was Montesquieu (Mon-tes-qui-a'). 
In 1748 he published his most famous book, the " Spirit 
of Laws." In this volume he called attention to the 



1 Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, p. 9. 



REFORM PHILOSOPHERS 



127 



many excellences of the British constitution and govern- 
ment. He particularly urged the value of separating 
the executive, legislative, and judicial departments of 
government, asserting that the excellence of the British 
system was due in large part to this separation of powers. 
His doctrines were accepted as true, and practiced both 
by the American statesmen who established our own 
government, and by the French writers and politicians 
connected with the French Revolution. 

The ablest and most influential of the reform philos- 
ophers was Voltaire. As a young man Voltaire had spent 
several years in England; he 
was thoroughly interested in 
the freedom allowed English- 
men and was impressed by the 
superiority of English institu- 
tions over those of the French. / \ 
Because of his criticisms of 
French society, his " Letters 
on the English" was burned 
publicly. Later he spent a few 
years in the court of Frederick 
the Great and undoubtedly had 
great influence on the reforms 
inaugurated by that Prussian 
monarch (§ 69). Through- 
out his long career he was a severe critic of the established 
order as it existed in his time and particular^ of the in- 
stitution of that day, the church, which he thought inter- 
fered most with the adoption of reforms and new ideas. 
" The reforms which Voltaire especially desired were in- 
dividual liberty, the equalization of the burdens of taxa- 
tion, the abolition of serfdom, the suppression of feudal 
dues, and the organization of public education." His 
wit, his abhorrence of injustice, his fearlessness in attack- 




VOLTAIRE 



Doctrine 
of separa- 
tion of 
depart- 
ments of 
govern- 
ment. 



Ideas and 
experiences 
of Voltaire. 



128 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Nature of 
the Ency- 
clopedia. 



Rousseau 
and the 
return to 
nature. 



Opposition 
to the mer- 
cantilist 
doctrines. 



ing evils in high places or low gave him a place at the 
head of the reformers of his day. 

105. The Encyclopedists and Rousseau. — Soon after 
the middle of the eighteenth century a group of reform 
writers published a series of nearly thirty volumes, entitled 
the Encyclopedia. Although many of the articles were 
exceedingly moderate in tone, a very large number of 
them embodied the reform ideas of the editor, Diderot 
(Did-e-ro'), and of other reform philosophers. In other 
words, they exposed to ridicule the outworn institutions 
of that day, they called attention to abuses of privileges, 
and they criticized the arbitrary powers exercised by abso- 
lute monarchs. They explained the principles of the new 
science and discussed, in great detail with numerous illus- 
trations, many processes of manufacture. 

In his " Social Contract," Rousseau (Roo-so') contended 
that in early political society men had lived in a state of 
nature, that they had granted the right to rule them to 
leaders who had extended their powers until they had 
enslaved the people. In a volume on education Rousseau 
contended that men should return to nature and should 
be as natural as possible in learning and in governing 
themselves. 

106. The Physiocrats and Adam Smith. — We have 
already noted the doctrines of the mercantilists whose 
followers influenced Colbert (§ 56) and other statesmen. 
They favored a policy of restricting imports in order to 
increase the wealth of the country, particularly by en- 
larging its supply of gold and silver. In the eighteenth 
century there arose a group of philosophers who were 
interested in economics ; they were known as the physio- 
crats. Prominent among them were Quesnay (Kes'nay), 
who contended that agriculture is far more important 
than any other industry ; therefore government should be 
supported by a single tax upon land and agriculture. 



REFORM PHILOSOPHERS 129 

Other economists of that day who opposed the pater- 
nalistic policy of the mercantilists 1 advocated the opposite, 
" the let alone policy/' which is usually associated with 
the expression " Laissez faire et laissez passer." " Free 
trade " in England (§ 345) applied these principles. 

Far abler and more influential than any of the French The first 
economists was the Scotch writer on economics, Adam ™° n o™i st 
Smith. In 1776, the year in which the United States Adam 
became independent of Great Britain, Adam Smith pub- mit ' 
lished his work entitled " The Wealth of Nations." Smith 
was opposed to the general policies of the mercantilists 
and therefore objected to artificial restrictions upon for- 
eign commerce which interfered with agriculture or indus- 
try. He favored a freer trade than had ever been per- 
mitted between modern nations, and he explained the 
principles underlying economics with such skill that he 
really created a new science. Most writers on economics 
since that day owe a great debt to Adam Smith. 

The Enlightened Despots 

107. Benevolent Despotism. — In the years before the Increasing 
French Revolution important changes were occurring in des P° tlsm 

. . accom- 

diff erent countries not only in the spread of reform ideas panied by 
but in the actual relief from abuses, for kings as well as son f 1I f" 

; ° portant 

people were interested in reform, 2 and on the continent social 
of Europe the monarchs were absolute. Each had surn- reform - 
cient authority to carry most of his plans into effect 
to increase his territories and his power at home as well 
as to make extensive reforms. If he was public spirited 
and understood the trend of the age, he tried to unite his 
people, he reformed his laws, he attacked the worst abuses 

1 E. E. C, § 727. 

2 The map of Europe was undergoing changes as well. Notice espe- 
cially the partitions of Poland (§ 65). 

K 



130 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Names of 
the most 
important 



Need of 
reform 
in 1750. 



Feudal 
and legal 
reforms. 



in the church, and he abolished the greatest hardships of 
the serfs. Naturally these despots did not give to the 
people a greater share in the government than they had 
had before. In fact, they took away many local assem- 
blies and privileges, for they wished the king to be all- 
powerful. 

Not in one country, but all over continental Europe 
did these changes occur, especially in the lands of the 
most prominent enlightened despots, Catherine II of 
Russia (§ 64), Frederick II of Prussia (§ 69), and Joseph 
II of Austria. 

108. Reform of Old Privileges. — In practically all 
continental countries at the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury some medieval customs and usages survived in the 
form of privileges. It is customary to speak of this epoch 
as that of the " ancien regime " (ray-zheme'), and we shall 
study its main features in France before the Great Rev- 
olution (§§ 111-119). No benevolent despot abolished 
many of the old abuses, for those who had privileges 
were tenacious of their rights. 

Some of the reforms made by these despots modified 
feudalism as it existed in the early eighteenth century. 
Occasionally feudal dues and serfdom 1 were abolished, 
but usually the arbitrary orders of the absolute mon- 
archs did little more than lighten the worst feudal burdens. 2 
In Prussia and in France a considerable number of old 
local tolls were abolished (§ 15). This action encouraged 
trade between different districts. In harmony with the 

1 Frederick the Great of Prussia abolished serfdom on the Prussian 
royal lands (§ 69). Neither Frederick nor Catherine II of Russia was 
able to help the serfs on the land of the nobles. 

2 In Sar-din'i-a, the most important kingdom of northern Italy, 
many old feudal abuses were destroyed. In his Austrian lands and to 
some extent in his other domains, Joseph II abolished feudal services 
and burdens. In France, Turgot (Tur-go'), minister of Louis XVI, 
lowered the cost of carrying grain from one district to another. He 
abolished forced labor of the peasants on roads. 



ENLIGHTENED DESPOTS 



131 



teachings of Beccaria, torture was abolished in a few 
countries. All the benevolent despots sought to unify 
the laws of their countries, although Catherine IPs 
attempt to codify the laws of Russia was unsuccessful. 
We must not imagine, however, that the national law in 
any country did away with the local laws and customs ; 
they survived everywhere 
in continental Europe, differ- 
ing in each community and 
province (§ 112). 

109. Joseph II as an En- 
lightened Despot. — We have 
already considered the be- 
nevolent despotism of Cath- 
erine of Russia and of Fred- 
erick the Great. Neither 
of these, however, was the 
typical enlightened despot. 
That title belongs to Joseph 
II of Austria, Emperor from 
1765 to 1790. Joseph II 
was a student of the reform 

philosophers, was very much influenced by the reform 
spirit of his age, and was anxious to unite his heterogeneous 
races into a united people. He attempted too many things 
at the same time, and, as Frederick the Great said, he 
always did the second thing before he did the first. 1 

Maria Theresa, mother of Joseph, had used her absolute 



i^Jfe' 






, 


J0" ■ " ' r^-"\^ 




P: '/: s -y^'; 


\\ 







Joseph II of Austria 



Attempt 
reforms 
and 
methods. 



1 One historian gives the following summary of Joseph's reforms: 
He desired "to consolidate all his domains into one homogeneous whole ; 
to abolish all privileges and exclusive rights ; to obliterate the boundaries 
of nations and substitute for them a mere administrative division of his 
whole Empire ; to merge all nationalities and establish a uniform code 
of justice ; to raise the mass of the community to legal equality with their 
former masters ; to constitute a uniform level of democratic simplicity 
under his own absolute sway." 



132 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



CHRONOLOGICAL 



GENERAL EUROPEAN 



1618 



Beginning of 

Thirty Years' 
War 



1648 Peace of 
phalia 



West- 



1640 



DIFFERENT 
EUROPEAN 
COUNTRIES 



Gustavus Adolphus 
(Sweden) 

The Great Elector 
(Prussia) 



FRANCE 



1643 Louis XIV 



1682 



1701 
1713 



Coalitions under 
William of 

Orange against 
Louis XIV 

War of Spanish 
Succession 

Treaty of Utrecht 



1740 War of the Aus- 
trian Succession 



1756 Seven Years' War 



1763 Treaty of Paris 



1765 



Peter the 
(Russia) 



Charles XII 
(Sweden) 



Great 



1685 
1689 



1740 Frederick the Great 

(Prussia) 
1740 Maria Theresa 

(Austria) 



1762 Catherine II 
(Russia) 



Joseph II 
(Emperor) 



Rule of Colbert 

Revocation of Edict 

of Nantes 
Beginning of Second 

Hundred Years' 

War 



1715 Death of Louis 
XIV 
Law's Mississippi 
Bubble 



1763 ' French lose colonial 



1778 Revolutionary War 1779 Siege of Gibraltar 
1783 Peace of Paris 



Turgot 



Necker 



1787 Assembly of Nota- 
bles 
1789 States-General 



AGE OF ABSOLUTISM 



133 



TABLE (1603-1789) 



ENGLAND 
1603 James I 
1628 Petition of Right 



REST OF WORLD 

1607 Jamestown 

1620 Plymouth 

1629 Great Migration to New England 



1635 Ship Money 

1642 Civil War 

1649 Commonwealth 

1653 Protectorate 



1660 Restoration 



1688 Glorious Revolution 



French explorations in America 
Russians in Siberia 

1686 Dominion of New England 
1689 Revolutions in America 
Queen Anne's War 



1715 George I 

Walpole prime minister 



English in India 

Contests between governors and 
people in America 



1757 William Pitt prime minister 



1763 New imperial policy 

Building up party of King's 
Friends 

1774 Policy of repression 

1775 War with colonies 

1778 War with France 

1784 Restoration of Cabinet Gov- 
ernment 



1757 Plassey (battle, India) 

1759 Quebec (siege, America) 

1763 French lose America and India 

1765 Stamp Act troubles 

1775 Second Continental Congress 

1776 Declaration of Independence 

1777 Saratoga (battle) 

1781 Yorktown (siege) 
Confederation 

1787 Constitutional Convention 

1789 Inauguration of Washington 



134 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Limitation 
of provin- 
cial rights 
and 

attempts to 
consolidate 
Austrian 
possessions. 



Result of 

Joseph's 

reforms. 



authority to destroy many privileges of the provincial 
diets ; she brought the provinces under control through 
royal representatives sent out from Vienna. Joseph not 
only attempted to take away what remained of the 
powers of the diets, but he also attempted to consolidate 
his territory into a single state organized into districts 
which were to be governed from Vienna. As we know 
that even in the twentieth century Austria is not a united 
state and that each race still has its own usages and 
customs and desires independent government (§§ 304, 308), 
we can easily understand that Joseph II failed completely 
to unite his dominions. 

Since Joseph attempted to interfere with the privileges 
of the nobles and clergy, 1 both of these powerful orders 
opposed his policies. Naturally no monarch, however 
absolute, could bring about in a few years reforms which 
the people did not want, and for which there was no 
preparation; reforms which did not take into account 
old prejudices, established customs, and differences of 
race, language, and belief. The work of Joseph was 
therefore doomed to failure and he died a disappointed 
man. Two of his reforms, however, were permanent and 
important ; he abolished serfdom, and also feudal tenure, 
in the distinctively Austrian lands. 



1 In order to make himself real ruler in Austria, it was necessary 
for Joseph to reduce the influence and power of the Pope over his 
people. The Emperor therefore temporarily granted toleration to all 
religions, and he allowed Protestants to have their own churches and 
schools. He abolished many convents and monasteries and tried to bring 
the Catholic bishops under royal authority. Fearing the influence of 
these changes, the Pope visited Vienna, where he was treated with 
extreme courtesy, but Joseph practically kept him a prisoner and decided 
who should visit his Holiness. 



ENLIGHTENED DESPOTS 135 



General References 

Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, 33-61. 
Hassall, The Balance of Power, 280-297, 350-393. 
Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern Europe, 1, 157-195. 
Sydney, England and the English in the Eighteenth Century, 
2 vols. 

Traill and Mann (eds.), Social England, V. 
Lacroix, France in the Eighteenth Century. 

Topics 

Punishment of Offenders on the Continent : Lowell, 
Eve of the French Revolution, 110-118; Lea, Superstition and 
Force, Chapter X; Lacroix, France in the Seventeenth Century, 
284-311. 

Charity in France : Lacroix, France in the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury, 267-284 ; Hugon, Social France in the Eighteenth Century, 
167-197. 

Voltaire : Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern 
Europe, I, 168-172 ; Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution, 51-69 ; 
Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Vo'taire." 

Studies 

1. Lawlessness in England. Sydney, England and the Eng- 
lish in the Eighteenth Century, 192-216. 

2. The work of John Howard. Traill and Mann (eds.), 
Social England, V, 656-664. 

3. French education. Lacroix, France in the Eighteenth 
Century, 241-267. 

4. Industrial changes and paupers in England. Traill and 
Mann (eds.), Social England, V, 454^-460. 

5. Kitchen and table. Lacroix, France in the Eighteenth 
Century, 367-387. 

6. French theaters. Lacroix, France in the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury, 387^15. 

7. Improvements in surgery. Traill and Mann (eds.), 
Social England, V, 568-573. 

8. Eighteenth century treatment of smallpox. Traill and 
Mann (eds.), Social England, 580-584. 

9. Suppression of the Jesuits. Hassall, The Balance of 
Power, 290-297. 



136 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

10. Joseph II. Hassall, The Balance of Power, 350-358. 

11. The "Encyclopedia." Lowell, Eve of the French Revolu- 
tion, 243-260. 

Questions 

1. Make a table comparing the offenses, methods of trying 
cases, and methods of punishment in England and on the Con- 
tinent. 

2. What forms of torture were used in Europe and for what 
purposes? How many of the principles advocated by Beccaria 
are practiced at the present time ? Who was Howard and what 
did he do for the reform of the eighteenth century prisons? 

3. How were problems of poverty treated in England before 
1790? What was the Speenhamland system, and why was it 
opposed? To what extent did the eighteenth century de- 
velop successful philanthropic methods? What improvements 
had been developed for fighting epidemics? What progress 
had been made in the practice of surgery? To what extent 
was there improved sanitation before 1800 ? Compare in each 
case with present day methods. 

4. What powers were exercised by the Jesuits? Why were 
they disliked by other church officials? by nobles and kings? 
by merchant burghers? 

5. Why were there reform philosophers in the last half of 
the eighteenth century? Why were most of these French or 
connected with France ? What does the world owe to Voltaire ? 
to Rousseau? to the Encyclopedists? to Adam Smith? 

6. Explain these terms : encyclopedists, benevolent despot- 
ism, separation of departments of government, social compact 
or contract, single tax, laiss3z faire, protection. 

7. Why were there benevolent despots in the last half of the 
eighteenth century? Name three, show that each was des- 
potic and describe also some phase of their enlightened rule. 
Before the Great War, were any European rulers despotic? To 
what extent were they benevolent despots? 

8. Enumerate the most important reforms which were made 
in the latter part of the eighteenth century? Name reforms 
which Joseph II undertook, and explain as fully as possible 
why he failed as a reformer. 



PART II 

THE AGE OF REVOLUTION (1789-1849) 



137 



138 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



! 

i '■■ , - .-- : .:'■■■:•:> ' 


> 

#■ , -,.«, ■ I..;;.;: 
. - 


"bImI 


?•" 




•\ 







CHAPTER VI 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

110. The Beginning of a New Europe. — The old impossibil- 
regime as it was in France and in other countries of the * ty ° f . 

° destroying 

Continent after the middle of the eighteenth century no the old 
longer exists in Europe. So long had it lasted, so great J? gime h 
was its power, so firm was its determination to keep its reform, 
privileges that it could not be overthrown by peaceful 
reform. Only revolution could free Europe from the old 
regime. In France, where there was no benevolent despot 
and reforms were incomplete, the overthrow was sudden 
and complete. We call this great change, probably 
" the greatest turning point as yet discernible in modern 
history," the French Revolution. 

The work of the French Revolution was not limited The work 
to France. The spirit that led the French people to Yrlnth 
abolish the old regime in France led them also to attempt Revolu- 
self -government as a nation — the first French Republic. J?^' ** der 
It led them to offer aid to other peoples in their struggle Napoleon, 
for the "liberty, equality, fraternity" which was the f^revo- 
motto of the French Revolution. It led them to support lutions. 
their great leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, in his conquests 
and reforms outside of France. The example of these 
enthusiastic French republicans caused other European 
peoples to demand the reform of abuses and the abolition 
of privileges. By the French Revolution a new era of 
world history was ushered in, an era that, within a few 
decades, brought to central Europe a very considerable 

139 



140 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Distinction 
between the 
French 
Revolution 
and the 
Reign of 
Terror. 



Old abuses 
and new 
usurpa- 
tions. 



The old 
regime in 
different 
countries. 



degree of national unity, constitutional government, and 
personal liberty. 

The French Revolution is not to be confused with the 
Reign of Terror (§ 137). The Revolution was a wide- 
spread movement which completely reorganized France; 
the Reign of Terror, a brief experience in severe govern- 
ment. The Revolution, moreover, began as a protest, 
not against bad government nor against poor financiering, 
but against the privileges of the old regime. What those 
privileges were, what the old regime was, we shall now 
notice briefly. 

The Old Regime in Fkance 

111. Feudal and Monarchical Character of the Old 
Regime. — As indicated above, the name " old regime " 
is applied to the order of things which existed before the 
French Revolution. Although several centuries had 
elapsed since the Feudal Age, a great many essential 
features of the medieval Church and of feudal govern- 
ment survived in the eighteenth century. Even more 
old privileges of the clergy and nobles persisted. The 
" ancien regime " was not only medieval in character ; it 
was also monarchical, since the ruler in each country 
was an absolute monarch or a despot. 

These conditions existed to only a limited extent in Eng- 
land and Holland ; consequently the old regime cannot be 
studied in those countries. In France it survived chiefly 
in the form of social and economic privileges. 1 In the 
rest of western and central Europe it included not only 
political rights for the upper classes but serfdom 2 for most 
of the people. 

112. Extent of National Development in France. — 
During the Middle Ages France was not a country in 
which every one fought for the same suzerain, or lived 

i Cf. §§ 116, 117. 2 Cf. § 8. 






THE OLD REGIME 141 

under the same laws, or were entitled to the same rights. Consoiida- 
France was a kingdom with a feudal king who really ^ OI ^ of the 
ruled only his own royal domain. 1 By the time of the- power in 
Renaissance, the kings had gained many absolute powers ; France * 
until the eighteenth century they continued to become 
more absolute and arbitrary. This united the French 
because it brought them under a strong central govern- 
ment. 

During the Middle Ages there was no French nation. Growing 
The Hundred Years' War helped to unite the people, es- ^ ° f the 
pecially when Joan of Arc aroused them against the English people, 
invaders. In the eighteenth century it might be said 
that the French were not only more intelligent than 
almost any other race in Europe, but that they had more 
interests in common. In other words they were united, 
for France was coming to be a real nation. 

113. Lack of Uniformity in France. — We would natu- Dissimilar- 
rally suppose that a people who form a nation and have ^ ies m 
an absolute monarch would not have many different 
types and kinds of local government and laws. But in 
France the traveler found very numerous and important 
differences as he journeyed from Paris to the remote 
provinces. 

Before 1789 France was divided into provinces. 2 In Provincial 
the older provinces the government and laws were more pn J% es 
or less uniform. In those which had been added to the ences. 
kingdom during the four hundred years preceding the 
French Revolution, there were assemblies which had the 
right to levy their own taxes. These provinces had 
other special privileges which were not enjoyed by the 
old provinces. 

Not only did certain provinces have special privileges Survival of 
but throughout France each locality had its own set ^ a °l^ cal 
of customs, laws, and officials, and each was governed courts. 

1 E. E, C, § 598. 2 E.g., Normandy and Champagne. 



142 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Absolutism 
in France. 



Centralized 
adminis- 
tration 
through the 
royal coun- 
cil and the 
intendants. 



The land 
tax and 
the burden 
of the 
peasants. 



according to local custom. There was no uniform law in 
France ; there were more than three hundred sets of local 
customs and regulations. An act that was a crime in 
one town might be treated very differently in each of 
the neighboring villages. Besides the hundreds of sets 
of local customs, there were tens of thousands of courts, 
survivals of the old feudal courts. 1 Although the people 
of France did not yet form a real nation, they objected 
to these differences. 

114. The Government of France. — We call the French 
king an absolute ruler, since he made laws or regula- 
tions arbitrarily, believed that he ruled by " divine 
right," and therefore considered himself above the law, 
as did James II of England (§ 36) ; yet we can see from 
the preceding section that his power was limited to some 
degree by the rights and privileges of many local govern- 
ments and by the many hundred systems of law. 

The real work of governing France was done, not by 
the king or by the local governments, but by a royal 
council for the central government and by intendants for 
local affairs. The royal council consisted of forty 
members ; it looked after the finances, the maintenance 
of order, and a hundred other matters. France was 
divided into twenty-four districts, over each of which 
was placed an intendant appointed by the crown. These 
intendants enforced the laws ; in addition they, with their 
assistants, gave permits for the building of houses, the 
sale of cattle, the holding of celebrations, and many 
other affairs. So extensive was their power that they 
were popularly known as the " Thirty Tyrants." 

115. Taxation. — In order to support these govern- 
ments and the extravagant court of the king, numerous 
taxes were levied. Several of these were strongly dis- 
liked by the people, particularly the salt tax (ga-belle f ), 



i E. E. C. 



479, 490. 



THE OLD REGIME 



143 



the land tax (taille, ta'y), and the road tax (cor-vee). 
Although the church owned about one fifth of the land 
in France and the king and nobles owned about as much 
more, neither the clergy nor the nobility paid any of 
the land taxes. The burden upon the peasants was 



< ' ENGLAND^~2 




SPAIN 



WU.UAMS ENG,CO„N.Y. 

Region of the French Great Salt Tax 



therefore very heavy. In consequence, throughout 
France at that time the common people lived in apparent 
poverty in order that their land tax might be as light as 
possible. The repairs on houses were neglected, and the 
yards were left in poor condition, even though, in rooms at 
the rear which the tax assessor did not visit, there might 
be mahogany furniture or fine Sev'res china. In spite 
of these attempts to evade taxation, writers have con- 
tended that the land tax took from the peasants nearly 
one half of the produce of the average farm. 

More objectionable than the land tax was the hated The hated 
corvee, which consisted of forced labor on the roads or on road tax< 



144 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Income tax 
and indirect 
taxes that 
were 
"farmed." 



public works. The lord * or the local officials might demand 
the services of the people or their ox teams at any time, 
even when seed must be planted or crops must be harvested. 

The clergy and the nobles were exempt from these 
taxes, but the nobles paid their share of an income tax 
called the " twentieth " which was levied upon each town 
or community. There was in addition another tax 
called the capitation or poll tax. The right to collect the 
salt tax and other indirect taxes was sold to a corporation 
of tax farmers, similar to those of the Roman Republic. 2 
These men paid a definite sum to the government ; they 
extorted from the people such additional amounts as 
they could. 

Part of the expense of the local governments was paid by 
customs duties which were collected by most towns and by 
many of the baronies in France. These octroi (oc-trwa') 
or tolls were not so common as in the Middle Ages, 3 
but they were still sufficiently numerous to make com- 
merce difficult. If a merchant wished to carry his goods 
to market he might be obliged to pay these dues ten, 
fifteen, or twenty times before he was able to sell his 
product in the nearest city. Imagine going from New 
York to Boston and being obliged to pay duty at every 
town through which one passed. That was what hap- 
pened when one went from Paris to Lyons in 1775. • These 
duties were of course a severe tax on trade, often making 
it quite unprofitable. 4 

116. The Clergy. — In addition to taxes the peasants 
were obliged to give " tithes " to the church. 5 These 



1 The term corvee really included all forced labor or service. The 
lord's service was limited to twelve days a year, that of the government 
was unlimited. 

2 E. E. C, § 331. 

3 Cf. E. E. C, § 567. Octroi duties are still collected at the gates 
of many French and other European cities. 

4 On tolls cf. § 15 n. 5 E. E. C, § 521. 



THE OLD REGIME 145 

did not actually amount to one tenth of the income of The church 
the people, but they fell upon a people already heavily J^jf the 
burdened. The tithes supported an organization that, the rev- 
being practically exempt from taxes, did not pay its share ? nues fro ™ 
toward the support of the state. The church had also lands. 
the income from its own extensive lands. 

The church had its own laws and its own courts. In The church 
many respects it constituted a state within a state. It apnviteged 

,,„., . ,. medieval 

tolerated no faiths other than its own ; and m general organiza- 
it was not in full sympathy with the times or the people. tlon - 
In eighteenth- century France there were higher and High- 
lower clergy, as in the Middle Ages. 1 The higher clergy salaned 
had good salaries, so that, although they constituted and under- 
only one sixth of the church officials, they had five paid 

J . . curates. 

sixths of the church revenues. The higher clergy, being 
nobles appointed by the king, spent as much time at 
court as they did in the care of their abbeys or bishoprics. 
The low secular clergy, the priests, belonged to the com- 
mon people. They were overworked and underpaid. 

117. The Nobility. — The second privileged class was The privi- 
made up of nobles. About one person in two hundred les ^A t 
was a member of a noble family, although comparatively and the 
few persons belonged to the real nobility which owned ordinar y 
the larger estates, enjoyed most of the offices, lived at 
court, and was really privileged. 

The nobles owned about as much land as the church. Specific 
They enjoyed exemption from taxation, besides many P"^ e s e9 
other privileges. They had many hunting rights ; the nobles, 
peasant might not shoot doves or hares, even if this 
game destroyed crops. In some parts of France the 
peasants could not build fences, because fences inter- 
fered with the sport of mounted huntsmen. The peas- 
ants were still obliged to bring their grain to the noble's 
mill and perhaps bake their bread in the noble's oven, 

*E. E. C, §515. 



146 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

being charged good round prices, as the lord had a mo- 
nopoly. The lord levied tolls on the roads of his estate, 
even if the roads were kept up by the labor of the peasants. 
If a flock was driven by his residence or a wagon passed laden 
for market, he took a part as his toll. Such were some of 
the objectionable privileges that had survived from feudal 
times, when most of them had existed for good reason. 
The hour- 118. The Middle Classes. — Between the privileged 

thd?oppor- c ^ asses an d the country peasants there was a class of 
tunities. artisans, lawyers, manufacturers, merchants, and bankers 
that lived in cities. These we called the bourgeoisie 
(§ 14). Most of the minor offices in the government 
were held by members of this middle class, who were in- 
dustrious and efficient. The more successful of the 
bourgeoisie bought for themselves titles of nobility, but 
they could not buy the respect of the nobles, or real 
power in the government, or privileges that belonged to 
the old aristocracy. 
Discontent The middle class chafed under a system that created 
Uons^ the monopoly for a few and interfered with the making of 
bourgeoisie, money. They were ambitious and discontented. When 
the revolution came, they deprived the old aristocracy 
of many privileges, and tried to make a new government 
which would specially represent their interests. The 
French Revolution was, in fact, largely the work of the 
bourgeoisie. 
The peasant 119. The Peasants. — Last, and at the time least, were 
burdens ^e peasants. Less than one tenth of the peasants were 
serfs. The rest were personally free. Most of them 
" owned " their land ; that is, the land belonged in the 
family, subject to a yearly rent of money, or produce, 
or both, payable to the lord. Besides the money rent 
were the irritating dues which the lord still exacted and 
the heavy, unjust taxes. Unlike the bourgeoisie, the 
peasants did not ask for political power, but for relief 



THE OLD REGIME 147 

from heavy taxes, from rents on land that really belonged 
to them, and from abuses that had survived from feudal 
times. 

Although comparatively few of the peasants could Prosperity 
read, they lived in a fair degree of comfort, had a fair of the , 

1 J ° ' peasants. 

supply of food, and had collected some household furni- 
ture, some china dishes, and a good supply of linen. 
They might be obliged to hide their prosperity for fear 
that the tax collector would make too high an assessment 
of their property or income ; but undoubtedly the peas- 
ants were better off in France than in almost any other 
country except England. That the privileged classes 
in France had fewer privileges than most nobles and clergy- 
men elsewhere on the Continent did not make the French 
peasants better contented ; for the French peasant, 
having made some progress, demanded more, whereas 
the peasants of Spain or Germany were too degraded to 
realize their condition. 

Attempted Reform in France 

120. France under Louis XVI. — This picture of France at 
France under the old regime gives us some idea of the Q f e Lo ^g 
situation when Louis XVI became king in 1774. His XV. 
predecessor had not made his work easy, for Louis XV 
had been a selfish and extravagant king, despotic but not 
benevolent. Very few reforms had taken place during 
his reign of fifty years. When a needed reform was men- 
tioned, he would say, " Well, enough of that, things will 
last as long as we do." 

When Louis XV died, Louis XVI and his beautiful Louis XVI 
wife, Marie An-toi-nette', daughter of Maria Theresa of A n n d to Ste. 
Austria and sister of Joseph II, became king and queen 
of France. Louis XVI really would have preferred to 
be a locksmith rather than king. Marie Antoinette was 
very unlike either her energetic, capable mother or her 



148 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Turgot, 
economist 
and prac- 
tical 
reformer. 



large-hearted fanatical brother, and her court was filled 
with unwise and extravagant courtiers. What France 
needed was a king of vision, a leader with backbone; 
Louis XVI, well-meaning and indolent, had neither. 




Park of Little Trianon. (With Marie Antoinette's Dairy) 

121. Turgot. — Louis began well by appointing Turgot 
minister of Finance. As an intendant, Turgot had been 
a practical and successful reformer. He was also recog- 
nized as one of the greatest of the new economists, who 
believed in giving industry and the worker as great free- 
dom as possible. 

Turgot attempted to carry out many reforms. 1 He 

1 Among Turgot's proposed reforms were the following : "the gradual 
introduction of a complete system of local self-government, the abolition 
of the corvee, the imposition of a land tax upon the nobility and clergy ; 
the amelioration of the condition of cures and vicars, and the suppression 
of the greater part of the monasteries ; the equalization of the tax by 
means of a land survey ; liberty of conscience, and the recall of the 
Protestants ; redemption of feudal revenues ; a single code ; a uniform 
system of weights and measures for the whole kingdom ; the suppression 
of wardenships and masterships, which impeded industry ; freedom of 
thought as well as of commerce and industry ; finally, he interested 
himself in moral as well as in material needs, forming a vast plan of 
public instruction which should shed light in every direction." (Duruy, 
History of France, p. 523.) 



ATTEMPTED REFORM IN FRANCE 149 

allowed free trade in grain in order that local famines Turgot's 
should not occur as in the reign of Louis XV. He put extensive 

. programs 

an end to most of the abuses of tax farming. He abolished of reforms, 
the hated corvee, which compelled the peasants to work 
on the roads. He tried to abolish the special privileges 
of the gilds, to make the nobles pay taxes, and to reform 
the church, thus arousing the opposition of nobility and 
clergy. As he was ungainly in appearance and lacked 
tact, it is not strange that the king as well as all the priv- 
ileged classes in France turned against him. After he 
was dismissed (1776), practically all his reforms were 
abandoned. 

122. Financial Troubles. — The American War for Necker's 
Independence, in which France hoped to humble Great JJ port J 
Britain, added to the burdens of one of Turgot's successors, finances. 
Necker, el banker from Geneva. Necker, however, per- 
formed one important public service. He published a 
financial report, which explained the state of the public 
finances. Although it was not very accurate, it had the 
same effect as the " publicity " methods used by our 
governments in recent years. It called attention to 
abuses and aroused public opinion against them. The 
privileged classes immediately put Necker out of office. 
After his fall the financial situation grew worse. 

In 1787 an assembly of the " notables " (clergy and nobles) Assembly 
was held, with the hope that the. privileged classes would no 4bies 
introduce some scheme for new taxes or would provide 
other reforms. The assembly agreed to reforms similar 
to those proposed by Turgot, so long as they did not 
interfere with the special privileges of the " notables " ; 
but the members refused to vote any tax which would 
be levied on themselves. The financial problem was 
therefore more acute than ever, as France was heavily 
in debt and drifting into bankruptcy. As a last resort 
it was decided to call the Stales-General, which had not 



150 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



met since 1614. Everywhere there was rejoicing, for 
king, nobles, clergy, and common people believed that 
the States-General would end all their troubles. 



Composi- 
tion and 
election of 
the States- 
General. 



The third 
estate. 



The 

cahiers 
and their 
demands. 



The Early Revolutions 

123. Calling of the States-General. — The States- 
General had always consisted of the three estates, clergy, 
nobility, and the third estate. From all parts of France 
demands were made that the third estate should have 

as many deputies as both the 
others. This was granted. All 
deputies for each order were to 
be elected from local districts. 
In consequence there were in 
the first estate a great many 
curates, about two thirds of 
the whole number, and a large 
number of the lesser nobles 
were chosen to the second 
estate. 

The members of the third 
estate represented the people, 
though they were not elected 
directly by popular vote. 
Among the deputies to this 
estate were found many lawyers and many magistrates. 
There were also some nobles, by far the greatest of whom 
was the huge, brainy Count de Mi-ra-beau'. The Abbe 
Sie-yes', later the constitution maker of France, said of 
this body : " What is the third estate ? The nation. What 
is it now? Nothing. What ought it to be ? Everything." 
Each district and order was allowed to make out 
instructions or cahiers for its deputies. These cahiers 
are a mine of information concerning the interests and 
desires, the needs and demands of the French people. 




MlRABEAU 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 151 

They give us valuable information concerning the social, 
economic, and political abuses of the ancient regime. 
" It was liberty rather than equality that seemed to be 
the universal cry." 

124. The Meeting of the States-General. — The crops Famine and 
of 1788 were unusually small, and the following winter i^m 1788- 
was exceedingly severe. To the financial difficulties 

of the government and the former discontent of the peo^ 
pie was now added acute distress. The reform of the old 
order would have been a much simpler task if so many 
people at the time had not been cold and half-starved. 

As there were twice as many deputies in the third The prob- 
estate as there were in either of the other two, the first g^°ation 
important question which arose was : How should the and voting, 
estates vote? Should they vote as orders, or should the 
vote be taken by the members as individuals f The privileged 
orders naturally insisted that they should vote as separate 
estates, just as all former States-General had done. The 
third estate desired that there should be a single assem- 
bly, in which all should vote as individuals. The first 
meeting was held on May 5, 1789. The hall was crowded, 
and an interesting speech was given by the king, followed 
by a long, dull paper on the finances by Necker, who was 
again in office. The estates immediately tried to organ- 
ize, the nobles organizing themselves as a separate order, 
the third estate demanding a single assembly, and the 
clergy waiting to see what could best be done, although 
many of the lesser clergy actually met with the members 
of the third estate. 

125. The National Assembly. — Against a single The tennis 
national assembly king, nobles, and upper churchmen courtoatl - 
protested vigorously. They had met, they declared, 

to reform the finances, not to revolutionize the govern- 
ment. On the 20th of June, 1789, the doors of the hall 
where the third estate held its meeting were closed by 



152 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



royal orders. Immediately the third estate adjourned 
to a tennis court near by, " at once the Run-ny-mede' 
and the Independence Hall of France." Here the dep- 
uties, with upraised hands, amid intense excitement, 
swore that they would not separate until they had made 
a constitution for France. 




Oath of the Tennis Court 

The king now called all of the members together and 
addressed them, asking the estates to separate and vote 
by orders. The nobles and some of the clergy obeyed. 
The " representatives of the nation" kept their seats. 
When the master of ceremonies said to them : " Gentle- 
men, you have heard the king's orders," Mirabeau, the 
new leader of France, rising, thundered in reply, " Go tell 
your master that we are here by the will of the people, 
and that we shall be removed only at the point of the 
bayonet." The revolution had begun. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



153 



tures the 
old politi- 
cal prison. 



126. The Fall of the Bastille. — Three weeks later the The Paris 
national assembly objected to the troops that the court ^esThe 
party wished to use in overawing the assembly. The 
king at once dismissed his minister, Necker, who seemed 
to stand for reform. Paris was instantly aroused to 
a frenzy. Mobs from the worst quarters of the city 
looted stores, and, on the 14th of July, 1 they attacked the 
Bas-tille' in which political prisoners had been detained 
under lettres de cachet (§ 95). 
Some of the mob crossed 
the drawbridge, only to be 
shot down. A few hours later 
the Bastille surrendered. The 
besiegers went wild, the Swiss 
guards were slaughtered, and 
the commander of the Bastille 
and several Parisian gentlemen 
who supported the old regime 
were murdered. When the 
king heard of it, he cried out, 
"This is a revolt." " No, 
your Majesty," a courtier re- 
plied, "it is revolution." 
There was rejoicing over the 
destruction of the prison which 
had stood for much that was 
odious in the old regime. 

127. The night of the Fourth of August. — Through- 
out France there were uprisings. Tax collectors were Disorder 
mobbed, hated aristocrats were murdered, and chateaux F™ c e h ° u1 
were burned. These things were not done because the 

people loved violence; the revolutionists desired simply 
the removal of unjust taxes and the destruction of papers 
which proved that they were bondmen. When the 

1 July 14 is now one of the most important national holidays of France. 




Place de la Bastille 



154 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The de- 
struction 
of the old 
regime, with 
its privi- 
leges and 
abuses. 



The march 
to Ver- 
sailles, 
October 5, 
1789. 



records of feudal payments were delivered to them, they 
were satisfied. If the records were not forthcoming, 
chateau and records were burned together. 

On the night of the fourth of August, 1789, a com- 
mittee of the national assembly gave a report on the 
state of the country. The members were aghast at the 
havoc wrought by the peasants. Then followed one of 
the strangest, wildest, and most momentous scenes in 
the history of parliaments. Nobles and clergy vied with 
each other in giving up privileges. Hunting rights were 
given up, as were rights to tithes, the salt monopoly, and 
exemption from taxation. All serfs were freed. The 
customs districts were destroyed. Special privileges 
of towns were surrendered. So far as it could be done 
by decree, the old regime was destroyed in a few short 
hours. There was opportunity to construct a new 
France based upon freedom and equality. 

128. Second Uprising of the People. — The national 
assembly made many promises on that famous evening; 
it spent almost two years carrying out some of them and 
framing a constitution for France. Meanwhile discon- 
tent was growing in Paris and in the provinces. The 
price of bread was exceedingly high. As the cities were 
crowded with tramps and with unemployed men, there 
was constant danger of trouble. About the first of 
October a dinner was given by the nobility at which 
insults were offered to the national assembly and the tri- 
color. On October 5th the Parisian mob, led by women 
of the lower quarter, marched to Versailles, demanding 
bread. Lafayette followed with the national guard and 
persuaded the king, his family, and the assembly to 
return to Paris. " We have the baker, the baker's wife, 
and the baker's little boy, now we shall have bread," 
was the cry of the women. The king and the assembly 
could now be influenced by the bourgeoisie or be overawed 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 155 

by the Paris mob. In the provinces the peasants were 
disappointed at the slowness with which the assembly 
worked and with the laws which it passed in order to 
carry out the promises of August 4. 

129. Declaration of Rights. — The members of the Official 
national assembly liked to talk, and they liked to talk * f u ^ e e ration 
on general principles rather than on specific laws. With "rights 
zeal they adopted in the fall of 1789 a " Declaration of of man -" 
Rights of Man and of the Citizen." This declaration 
reminds us of our own Declaration of Independence and 

of the bills of rights in our state constitutions. It de- 
clared that men are born free and remain free and 
equal in rights. It stated that the nation is sovereign. 
It maintained that citizens have a right to help make the 
laws and to equality before the law, and that taxes should 
be payable in proportion to the wealth of the citizens. 
In short, it asserted that all citizens should have indi- 
vidual rights similar to those to which Englishmen or 
Americans were accustomed. 

130. The Government under the New Constitution. Forward 
— Gradually the assembly developed a constitution. Jj thTnew 
By this all citizens were divided into two classes, active govem- 
and passive. The active citizens included those who ment - 
paid a tax equivalent to three days' labor ; they were 
allowed to vote. The constitution provided for a single 
legislative assembly elected by the people. The king 

was allowed to veto laws, but a bill could become a law 
without his consent if voted by three successive legisla- 
tures. The king was not allowed to control the army. 

The assembly abolished all customs districts (§ 15) New de- 
and local systems of law (§ 3). It also abolished the ^Xal- * 
old provinces (§ 113) with their special privileges. France ized local 
could now be organized as a nation. In place of the old % 0Ye * n - 

. ^ ment, and 

provinces France was divided into eighty-two departments, fair trials, 
each of which was subdivided into districts and munici- 



156 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



polities. All local governments were to be made up of 
elected officials. In consequence the government of 
France was highly decentralized. No longer were nobles 
allowed to hold court on their estates as some had since 
the Middle Ages, but new systems of local and general 
courts were created to protect the rights of the citizens 
and to apply the laws. Provision was made not only 
for jury trial in criminal cases, but also for open and fair 
trial. Punishments were made more just, and the death 
penalty was to be inflicted by decapitation, for which 
a new instrument called the guillotine was invented. 

131. Finances and Church Lands. — The assembly did 
not really interfere with the church until it needed money. 
Then it decided to take over the church lands, because 
it maintained that these lands had been given by the 
nation to the church in order that it might care for the 
people. Now that the nation was looking directly after 
the interests of its members, the members believed that 
the government should supervise the church and should 
take charge of the church lands. At first an attempt 
was made to sell those lands, but without success. 

Since many of the old taxes such as the " gabelle," the 
" octroi," and the tobacco monopoly had been abolished, 
the government did not have as much revenue as before. 1 
Consequently, it began to issue paper money, called 
assignats, the church lands being used as security ; that 
is, the government treated the paper money as a loan 
made to it by the people and considered the lands as 
mortgaged for the payment of the assignats. The temp- 
tation to make money by running the printing press was 
so great that bills aggregating in value twenty-nine bil- 



1 The new system of taxation included a land tax assessable on all 
classes, a personal property tax, a tax on industries and commerce, and 
a tariff on imports and exports. In point of fact either these taxes were 
not levied or they produced little revenue. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 157 

lions of francs were eventually issued. Naturally these 
depreciated so much that it was necessary to have a 
" law of the maximum " (§ 136), which fixed the maxi- 
mum price that might be charged for any commodity. 

132. Church and State. — Beginning with the decree Secuiariza- 
of November 2, 1789, the state took over not only the *^urch 
property of the church which we have just mentioned, property, 
but the work of the church as well. Churchmen were 

to be paid by the government, and a minimum salary 
of twelve hundred francs and lodging was guaranteed 
to every priest. That was at least double the former 
salary of the curates. The assembly forbade the payment 
of papal dues and suppressed the monasteries. 

By the civil constitution of the clergy, 1790, the number oath of 
of bishops was reduced to one for each department. cler ^ *° 

iiir» support the 

They, and all other clergymen, were to be elected from French con- 
their districts. Each was compelled to take an oath of stltutlon - 
fidelity to the constitution of France, including the civil 
constitution of the clergy. This policy was opposed by 
the public, by practically all bishops, and by many 
curates. Clergy who failed to take the oath were called 
the " non-juring priests." 

This first national assembly was known as the Con- Work of 
stituent Assembly because it made a constitution (1789- *J® Co ^' 
1791). In addition it decreed the abolition of abuses ; on Assembly 
the night of the fourth of August and later, it actually lil?? - 
freed the peasants from many obligations which had sur- 
vived from feudal times, and it arranged for the pur- 
chase by the peasants of the land which they occupied. 

133. War with Austria and Prussia. — Soon after the Emigrant 
beginning of the Revolution the brother of Louis XVI had g> bIes ™ 
left France. , Many of the most conservative or most hated 

of the nobles also emigrated. In the valley of the Rhine 
there were two camps of these " emigrees," who sought con- 
stantly to stir up trouble for the new French government. 



158 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The 

"flight" 
of the king, 
June, 1791. 



A new, 
more 
radical 
assembly 
and foreign 
interven- 
tion. 



Early in the summer of 1791 the king and queen de- 
cided to join their friends who had emigrated. On June 
21 they left Paris, the queen being dressed as a Russian 
lady and Louis being disguised as her valet. The queen 
could not forget that she was queen and they proceeded 
in the great coach by slow stages. At one town Louis 
put his head out of the carriage and was recognized. 
At Varennes they were stopped, taken prisoners, and 
finally taken back to Paris. From that time the people 
had even less confidence that Louis was playing the game 
squarely. 

The second national assembly, which met in 1791, 
was called the Legislative' Assembly, 1 and was controlled 
by a group of young, eloquent deputies known as the 
" Gi-ron'dists." 2 The radicals of this body occupied 
such high seats in the assembly hall that they were known 
as the " Mountain ." The patriotism of this assembly 
was aroused when the rulers of Prussia and Austria as- 
serted 3 that the restoration of the monarchy in France 
concerned them as well as France. War with Austria 
and Prussia did not break out, however, until the spring 
of 1792. Before invading France, the allied army issued 
through its commander, the Duke of Brunswick, a mani- 
festo in which it ordered the French people to restore 
Louis XVI to his proper position and to govern them- 
selves according to the instructions of the allied monarchs. 



The French Republic 

134. Events Leading to the Republic. — By this time 
the nation as well as the assembly was thoroughly aroused 

1 The members of the Constituent Assembly unselfishly but unwisely 
decided that they should not be eligible to election in the new assembly. 
This deprived that body of the experience gained by its members. 

2 The name is associated with the valley of the Garonne river, from 
which many leaders of the faction had come. 

3 Declaration of Pillnitz, August 27, 1791. 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 



159 



against royalty. Throughout France was sung the Mar- Attack on 
seil-laise', the song of the red revolutionists from Mar- ^ Tuile " 

? ° nes, 

seilles', who marched to Paris urging extreme measures. August 10, 
The assembly was ordered to depose the king. When 1792, 
it failed to do so, the mob, August 10, invaded the Tuile- 
ries (Twel-re'), where the king had his residence. The 
members of the royal family were first removed to the 
assembly hall and then were kept prisoners in the temple. 
The Swiss guards offered resistance, but the mob sacked 




The Lion of Lucerne 

the Tuileries and killed the defenders almost to a man. 
The lives of a few were saved, for they mounted statues in 
the garden, which even the rioters did not wish to injure 
with the blood of their victims. In Lucerne, Switzer- 
land, a huge lion has been cut in the rock in memory of 
these brave guards. 

During the early years of the Revolution the national Famous 
assembly was slow and rather conservative. Some of revolut J° n " 

^ t m ary clubs. 

the more radical members organized groups in which 
they discussed public problems and more heroic measures 
of reform. The most famous of these clubs was the 



160 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Events of 

September, 

1792. 



Jac'o-bin group, of which Lafayette and Talleyrand were 
originally members, but from which they resigned when 
men like Marat (Mar-ra') and Ro-bes-pierre' gained 
control. Similar groups were organized in Paris and 
throughout France. These men and other radicals 
were known as Jacobins. They were influential in the 
Legislative Assembly, but they did not gain control until 

several months after the 
attack on the Tuileries. 
Another group in Paris 
was known as the Cor- 
de-lier' club. The lead- 
ing spirit of this was 
Dan-ton', an able but 
rather brutal lawyer, 
who was strongly op- 
posed to the monarchy. 
After the tenth of August 
Danton became the 
most prominent figure 
in France. 

As the allied armies 
advanced toward Paris, 
the populace became 
filled with fear and rage. They believed that royalists, 
nobles, and priests in and near Paris were aiding the 
enemy; consequently, the first week in September the 
mob broke into the prisons of Paris and massacred in 
cold blood more than a thousand royal prisoners. This 
butchery was known as the September Massacres. Later 
in the month, on the twenty-fifth of September, two im- 
portant events occurred. The invasion of the Austrians 
and Prussians was stopped by the battle of Valmy and 
a new assembly, called the Convention, met and organized 
a republic. 




Danton 



THE REIGN OF TERROR 161 

135. Execution of Louis XVI. — Since the Convention Trial and 
was made up of extremists, in November (1792) it issued ®f e t ^ tl ^ 
a challenge to monarchial Europe, informing all peoples 

that France would help them to free themselves from their 
kings. By January, 1793, it was decided to try Louis 
XVI for conspiracy or treason. Unanimously the mem- 
bers of the Convention voted that he was guilty of con- 
spiracy, but, in spite of the ravings of the radicals in the 
gallery, his death was decreed by only a bare majority. 
On the twenty-first of January, 1793, Louis was taken 
from his cell and guillotined in the presence of an enor- 
mous crowd. 

On February first the Convention declared war against New general 
England and Holland. By March 9 all Europe was in Eur ° p ^ 

J * war (1793). 

arms against France. Almost immediately disaster over- 
took the northern French army, which had advanced 
into Belgium, and the one farther south, which had pene- 
trated to the Rhine river. 

136. Conditions Leading to the Terror. — When the call Call for 
for more troops was ordered in January, some of the dis- * ro °P s a f d 

1/7 insurrection 

tncts refused to furnish men. In La Vendee (Von-day') in La 
the rule of the assembly had never been popular. None of Vendee - 
the priests of that district had taken the oath, and they 
were supported by the peasants, who were exceedingly 
loyal to the church in its old form. The execution of the 
king was the finishing touch. La Vendee rose in insur- 
rection. Its example was followed in several cities and 
in other districts of France. 

It seemed to those in authority that the republic Dictatorial 
could be maintained only by the most severe measures. P° we y s , 

o- ii/^ • i- i • -x^ exercised 

femce the Convention did not wish to give Danton abso- by the 

lute authority, it organized a Committee of Public Safety, £ f j^** ee 

comprised of nine members who had great power. To Safety and 

aid them, a tribunal or court was formed which had the its court - 
right to try persons as arbitrarily as they would be tried 



162 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Attempt of 
the French 
government 
to regulate 
prices. 



Danger of 
arbitrary- 
arrest and 
trial. 



Atrocities 
committed 
by revolu- 
tionary 
govern- 
ments. 



by courts-martial. Being in control of both the execu- 
tive and judicial branches of the government, the radicals 
were able to carry out a policy of extreme measures. 
By this system of terrorizing their opponents, they hoped 
to keep the republic from destruction. 

Another danger encountered by the rulers of France 
was that of high prices. During these years of unrest 
and disorder, business had been rather poor, and the 
government had issued so much paper money that prices 
were very high. In order to stop the rise of prices, the 
government in 1793 decreed or passed a " law of the 
maximum." It fixed the maximum price for wheat and 
flour, decreed that the price of other necessities should 
be only one third more than the price of 1790, and fixed 
wages one half higher than they were in 1790. These 
laws could not be enforced, partly because those who had 
goods would not sell them at those prices. 

137. The Reign of Terror. — By September, 1793, 
things had gone from bad to worse. The Convention 
declared that any one who opposed or criticized the 
government might be considered guilty of treason. 
Prisoners suspected of sympathy with the royal cause 
were no longer safe. Those who had enemies trembled 
for fear that they too might be imprisoned and tried 
before the revolutionary tribunal. In Paris and in most 
other cities a condition akin to terror existed. Few dared 
to speak openly or criticize the rulers of either the nation 
or the cities. 

The revolutionary tribunal in Paris did not use its 
power arbitrarily at first, but in Lyons, already the scene 
of violence early in the Revolution, many hundreds of 
people were killed by soldiers in the streets, and two 
thousand were guillotined by the revolutionary tribunal 
of that city. At Nantes, in La Vendee, the more fortu- 
nate prisoners were shot down; others were huddled 



THE REIGN OF TERROR 163 

into leaky hulks of vessels and drowned in the Loire 
river. 

The Convention did not approve the orthodox religion The 
of France. It decreed that there should be a new calen- ^Liberty 
dar which dated, not from the birth of Christ but from and the 
the establishment of the republic, the next twelve months ge^ 6 ™ 6 
being known as the year one. In Paris a great Festival 
of Liberty was held. In the stately old Cathedral of 
Notre Dame there was enthroned, by the red-capped 
deputies from the Convention and by wild rioters, a 
Goddess of Reason, around whom danced the women of 
the slums. This orgy was disapproved by many of the 
leaders of the government and by most of the people. 
Months later new leaders of the Committee of Public 
Safety held a Festival of the Supreme Being, at which 
three colossal figures symbolizing atheism, discord, and 
selfishness were burned. Soon afterwards the people in- 
sisted that the churches should be opened again for the 
worship to which they had been accustomed for centuries. 

138. Close of the Reign of Terror. — Those respon- Fall of 
sible for the Festival of Liberty were soon overthrown Danton - 
by their enemies and sent to the guillotine. Soon after, 
Danton was brought before the revolutionary tribunal, 
tried, and put to death. " The republic seemed to have 
become a monster eager to tear and devour her own 
children." * 

With the death of Danton, Robespierre came into power. Rule and 
Robespierre was a small man, whose views in the early ^Robes^ 
days of revolution had been moderate. His short rule pierre. 
of something over three months was marked by so much 
bloodshed that the Reign of Terror has ever since been 
regarded with horror. 2 For several weeks before he was 

1 Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, p. 213. 

2 During the Reign of Terror, however, there were fewer people sent 
to the guillotine in Paris than were killed on the Union side of the battle 



164 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Changed 
conditions 
under the 
Republic. 




Robespierre 



sent to the guillotine, he had four revolutionary tribunals 
in Paris working overtime trying suspects. His severity 

aroused all factions 
against him. In July, 
1794, they in turn 
seized him and de- 
manded his execution. 
His death really ended 
the Reign of Terror. 

139. Constructive 
Work of the Conven- 
tion. — We must not 
think that during these 
months all Frenchmen 
were as bloodthirsty 
as the rulers, or all 
citizens as much in 
danger as were those 
factional leaders who were not in power. The ordinary 
citizen came and went, attending strictly to his own affairs, 
and refraining from criticism or comment on the govern- 
ment or its leaders. People, especially of the higher 
classes, were careful to avoid any appearance of aris- 
tocracy. Early in the Revolution all titles had been 
abolished and abandoned. The duke was no longer 
duke, he was simply Citizen. The dress of a gentle- 
man was too dangerous a mark for public use ; instead 
of the silk waistcoat, the short clothes of fine cloth, 
silk stockings, and silver-buckled low shoes, all men 
wore the loose coat and long trousers which formerly 
had been the distinguishing clothes of the laborer. 

The Convention, however, devoted far more attention 

of Gettysburg. Even during the later days of the dictatorship of Robes- 
pierre, the number that was executed averaged less than thirty-five per 
day. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



165 



to constructive reforms than to the destruction of its 
enemies. It adopted a metric system of weights and 
measures ; it helped the peasants (§ 200) to acquire title 
to their lands. In its later sessions it made arrangements 
for an educational system, in which a boy could be taught 
from the lowest grades through the university. It made 
good progress toward the drawing up of a uniform law 
code for the country to take the place of the many hun- 
dred local systems of law that had been abolished early 
in the Revolution. 

140. The General European War and the Directory. 
— As we noted above (§ 136)/ soon after the death of 
Louis XVI France found herself at war with practically 
all Europe. 1 Fortunately a member of the Committee 
of Public Safety, Lazare Carnot (Car-no ') was the man for 
the emergency. So successful was he that he is known 
as the " Organizer of Victory." Under his direction 
large armies of enthusiastic citizen troops were raised. 
In addition the French armies were almost doubled in 
size by conscription. They adopted methods of direct 
attack which were suitable for inexperienced but enthu- 
siastic troops, and their able young generals gradually 
freed France from all invaders. 

In 1795 the French assumed the offensive. They de- 
feated the Spaniards on the frontier of the Pyrenees, the 
Italians in the Alps, and the English, Austrians, and Prus- 
sians along the Rhine. Since France no longer desired 
to overthrow European monarchies, the Prussians 2 



Work of the 
Convention 
in building 
up France. 



Victories of 
Carnot and 
the citizen 
armies. 



France 
makes peace 
with some 
of her 
enemies. 



1 The war between England and France influenced the United States 
because (1) we had a treaty of alliance (1778) with France, and (2) we 
were the most important neutral country engaged in the carrying trade. 
Washington soon issued the Proclamation of Neutrality, but our position 
a3 neutral carriers of goods caused trouble until the European wars closed 
at Waterloo (1815). 

2 Prussia gave to France her territories on the west bank of the Rhine, 
on condition that she receive other territories in central Germany. 



166 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The 
Directory. 



The old 
regime 
in France. 



and Spaniards 1 deserted their allies and made peace 
with the Republic. The Dutch Netherlands were organ- 
ized into the Ba-ta'vi-an Republic, which was allied with 
France. England took advantage of this alliance to 
seize most of Holland's colonial possessions; Ceylon, 
South Africa, and some of the East Indies islands became 
British because of the success of the English fleets. 

In 1795 also France reorganized her government. She 
provided for a legislature of two houses and an executive 
consisting of five directors. We refer to the period dur- 
ing the next four years as that of the Directory. 

141. Summary. — More than any other continental 
country, France had become a nation before 1789, yet 
in France many medieval usages survived. We call this 
state of affairs the old regime. While the king was des- 
potic and ruled through a royal council and intendants, 
his authority was limited by local privileges and local 
systems of law. There were two privileged orders, the 
clergy and the nobility, each of which controlled about 
a fifth of the land of France. The middle classes, bour- 
geoisie and more prosperous farmers, were rich but dis- 
contented and ambitious. The peasants, burdened by 
unjust and rather heavy taxes, demanded reforms. 
Under Louis XV few reforms were made and his succes- 
sor, Louis XVI, was temperamentally unfit to cope with 
serious problems. Half-heartedly he upheld his reform 
ministers, Turgot and Necker, who were opposed vigor- 
ously by the court party. 

When it was found impossible to make necessary 
changes in the taxes, a States-General was called in 1789, 
the first in 175 years. Petitions (cahiers) were made out 

1 Spain's withdrawal had important consequences to America, because 
the Spanish feared that the United States would ally herself with Great 
Britain. If this had occurred, Spain would have lost some of her Ameri- 
can possessions west of the Mississippi. (See Ashley, American History, 
§231.) 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 167 

by each locality and order. When the estates met, the The early 
third estate, with more than twice as many delegates as ^J^*" 011 
the other two, insisted on reorganizing as a single chamber, constitu- 
a national assembly. This revolutionary change was tlon * 
made in spite of the king and the nobility. On July 14 
the Bastille was stormed, and, for several weeks after- 
ward, chateaux were taken and records burned through- 
out France. When news of this reached Paris, August 4, 
the assembly agreed to give up many privileges. In 
October, 1789, the scarcity of bread caused a march on 
Versailles, whence the mob brought to Paris the king and 
his family. The Constituent Assembly not only agreed 
upon a declaration of rights and created a limited mon- 
archy for France, but it took over church lands and made 
the clergy public officials. On the security of the lands 
assignats were issued. Local officials were chosen by 
popular vote, and local districts were allowed to govern 
themselves without much interference from Paris. 

The Legislative Assembly (1791-1792) was more radi- The early 
cal than the Constituent Assembly, but the third assembly, re P ubllc - 
the Convention (1792-1795) was most radical of all, for 
the Mountain and the extreme Jacobins soon overpowered 
the Girondists. The king attempted to flee to his friends 
in Germany, and when those friends made war on France 
in his behalf, the Tuileries were sacked and royalist 
prisoners were massacred. When the foreign invasion 
was checked at Valmy, a republic was established (Sep- 
tember, 1792). Soon after came the proclamation against 
royalty everywhere and the execution of Louis XVI. 

These acts aroused against France the nations of The Reign 
Europe ; they also stirred up the enemies of the Con- of J?f ror 
vention within France. To terrorize the latter, extreme general 
measures were used by the Committee of Public Safety, ^ r °P ean 
the leading member of which was Danton, and by the 
Revolutionary Tribunal. Especially at Nantes and Lyons 



168 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

were the insurrectionists murdered with extreme bru- 
tality. But the Terrorists did not agree among them- 
selves, Danton was driven from power, and under 
Robespierre the guillotine seemed never idle ; yet with 
Robespierre's death the Reign of Terror ended abruptly. 
In the meantime the Convention had passed many laws 
to help business and education, and Carnot had organ- 
ized citizen armies under young, able commanders that 
were winning victories for France. In 1795, the year 
in which the Directory was established, France allied 
herself with Holland and made peace with Prussia and 
Spain. 

General References 

Adams, Growth of the French Nation, 258-307. 

Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern Europe, I, 203- 
283. 

Robinson, Readings in European History, II, 360-465. 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, I, 395- 
522. 

Hazen, Modern European History, 1-151. 

Bourne, The Revolutionary Period of Europe, 88-226. 

MacLehose, Last Days of the French Monarchy. 

Mathews, The French Revolution. 

Lowell, The Eve of the French Revolution. 

Fling, Source Problems of the French Revolution. 

Johnston, The French Revolution. 

Cambridge Modern History, VIII, "The French Revolution." 

Stephens, The French Revolution, 2 vols. 

Laeroix, France in the Eighteenth Century. 

Gibbs, Men and Women of the French Revolution. 

Topics 

The Old Regime in France : Mead, The Grand Tour, 5-28 ; 
Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, 3-32 ; Hazen, 
Modern European History, 31-59; Mathews, The French Revo- 
lution, 1-51. 

Revolutionary Reorganization : Hayes, Political and 
Social History of Modern Europe, I, 479-486 ; Mathews, 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 169 

The French Revolution, 150-165; Bourne, Revolutionary Period 
in Europe, 107-124 ; Hazen, Modern European History, 86- 
96. 

The Reign of Terror : Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 132- 
147 ; Mathews, The French Revolution, 129-146 ; Hazen, Modern 
European History, 128-146. 

Studies 

1. Privileged and unprivileged. Mathews, The French Revo- 
lution, 12-30. 

2. The clergy and their revenues. Lowell, The Eve of the 
French Revolution, 29-37. 

3. The bourgeoisie. Lacroix, France in the Eighteenth 
Century, 60-80. 

4. The provincial towns. Lowell, The Eve of the French 
Revolution, 175-185. 

5. Taxes of the old regime. Lowell, The Eve of the French 
Revolution, 213-229. 

6. Travel in France. Mead, The Grand Tour, 32-33, 44- 
45, 52-61, 78-84. 

7. Betrothal and marriage of Marie Antoinette. Bickwell, 
Story, of Marie Antoinette, 5-31. 

8. The Little Trianon. Bickwell, Story of Marie Antoinette, 
74-80, 141-142. 

9. The diamond necklace. MacLehose, Last Days of the 
French Monarchy, 272-291. 

10. Turgot. Tallentyre, Friends of Voltaire, 206-236. 

11. Cahiers on social and economic questions. Lowell, The 
Eve of the French Revolution, 359-376. 

12. Meeting of the States General. Mathews, The French 
Revolution, 111-119. 

13. Uprising of the masses. Mathews, The French Revolu- 
tion, 125-137. 

14. The Decrees of August 4 (1789) and the Declaration 
of Rights. Robinson, Readings in European History, II, 404- 
412. 

15. Flight to Varennes. Bickwell, Story of Marie Antoinette, 
221-245. 

16. The assembly demolishes privileges. Johnston, The 
French Revolution, 89-104. 

17. Last hours of Louis XVI. Clery, The Royal Family in 
Prison, 171-200. 



170 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

18. Closing scenes in Life of Marie Antoinette. Bickwell, 
Story of Marie Antoinette, 297-325. 

19. The first period of general war. Fyffe, History of Modern 
Europe, 53-65. 

Questions 

1. Explain the feudal character of the old regime. Show 
how the new national spirit of the French people influenced 
the French Revolution. Name the three principles of the 
Revolution and explain how each was contrary to the spirit 
of the old regime. 

2. Was there another old regime in central and eastern 
Europe before the Great War? If so, name at least two proofs 
of autocratic government, three evidences of special privilege, 
and several forms of oppression of the people. Have any 
of these evils been removed yet? In what ways was there 
lack of uniformity in the governments or laws of France? Ex- 
plain the organization and the powers of the king, the royal 
council, and the intendants. 

3. Explain the different taxes which were in use before 
1789 : compare them with those in use in America before the 
Great War. 

4. Name the most important privileges of clergy and nobles. 
State what the bourgeoisie wanted. In what ways was the 
peasant unjustly burdened? If better off than his fellows 
in other countries, why was the French peasant discontented ? 

5. What characteristics were needed by the French king 
in the decade before 1789? What reforms were attempted by 
Turgot and Necker ; with what success in each case ? 

6. How had the States-General been organized before 1614? 
Was there any good reason for organizing it in the same 
form in 1789? Why did the third estate insist upon reorganiz- 
ing it into a national assembly? 

7. Trace the different step3 in the development of the 
early Revolution and show the revolutionary character of 
each of the following : organization of a single chambered 
national assembly, disorder in Paris and in France, July, 1789, 
work of the national assembly on the 4th of August, procession 
to Versailles and return of the king to Paris, the civil consti- 
tution of the clergy, substitution of departments for the old 
provinces, creation of a constitutional monarchy. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 171 

8. Who were the emigres ? Describe the attempt of Louis 
XVI to join the emigres. What caused the attack on the Tuile- 
ries, August 10, 1792? 

9. What were the most important revolutionary groups in 
France? Who were the Girondists? Who formed the "Moun- 
tain"? What was the attitude of the French government in 
the fall of 1792 toward monarchy and liberalism in the rest 
of Europe ? Why were a committee of public safety and a revo- 
lutionary tribunal organized in 1793 ? 

10. Name important causes of the general European war 
beginning in 1793. Why were there insurrections in Lyons 
and La Vendee in addition? Describe as fully as possible the 
chief reasons why the French government adopted a policy of 
terrorizing its opponents. How long did the Reign of Terror 
last? Who were the leaders in the movement and how did it 
finally come to an end ? 

11. What was the nature and the object of the "law of the 
maximum" ? Have we ever had any similar laws in the United 
States? If so, when and with what results? What construc- 
tive work was done during this period by the French govern- 
ment? (Distinguish between the work of the Constituent 
Assembly, the Legislative Assembly, and the Convention.) 

12. What methods used by Carnot entitled him to the name 
"Organizer of Victories"? What were the provisions of the 
peace treaties made by France with Prussia, Spain, and Hol- 
land in 1795? How was the new French government under 
the Directory organized after 1795 ? 



CHAPTER VII 



The 

Bonapartes. 
Boyhood of 
Napoleon. 



Military 
training 
and early 
experience. 



NAPOLEON 
Napoleon becomes Master of France 

142. Napoleon Bonaparte. — The history of Europe 
during the twenty years ending with the battle of Water- 
loo (1815 a.d.) was to a large extent the history of Napo- 
leon. Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of 
Cor'si-ca in 1769, about the time that Corsica became a 
part of France. The Bonapartes were a poor but noble 
family. Especially from his mother, a woman of little 
education but great force of character, did Napoleon in- 
herit those qualities which afterwards made him famous. 
Even in boyhood he showed himself passionate and 
domineering ; as he grew older, his egotism and ambition 
became more pronounced. 

At the age of ten Napoleon was sent to a military school 
in eastern France. His poverty as well as his inability 
to speak French fluently kept him from making friends, 
and he did not excel as a scholar, although his work in 
mathematics was good. His military training included 
a year in a school at Paris, where he told the officers 
how to reorganize their system of instruction. Naturally 
these suggestions from a boy of fifteen did not meet with 
the full approval of the faculty. Napoleon served as an 
artillery officer before the Revolution began. As a lieuten- 
ant of artillery, he took part in the siege of Tou-lon', and 
by the proper placing of the siege guns he helped greatly 
in the capture of the city. Napoleon's prominence, how- 

172 



NAPOLEON MASTER OF FRANCE 



173 



ever, really begins with an insurrection against the Con- 
vention in Paris in the fall of 1795. Being placed in 
charge of the artillery, he protected the Tuileries by fir- 
ing upon the mob in the streets leading to that building. 
His promotion in the army was due chiefly, nevertheless, 




Napoleon 



to the influence of one of the directors, a friend of Jose- 
phine Beau-har-nais', whom Napoleon married in 1796. 

143. Napoleon's Italian Campaign. — Because of in- Succession 
fluence rather than recognized ability Napoleon was °^ ctones 
placed (1796) in charge of the army of the French republic Austria, 
in Italy. His way into Italy was blocked by two armies, 
one Austrian, the other Sardinian. By rapid marches 



174 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Land vic- 
tories and 
naval 
defeat in 
Egypt. 



through low passes of the mountains near the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, Napoleon separated these armies, each of 
which he defeated in turn. Within a month from the 
time when he left France, he entered Milan. A few days 
later the Austrians were beaten again. All of their 
attempts to drive Napoleon from the Po valley were 
futile ; in fact, in the winter of 1797, Napoleon forced an 
Austrian army back through the passes of the eastern 
Alps until he was within a hundred miles of Vienna. 1 

By the treaty of Campo Formio (1797) France gained 
the Belgian Netherlands and almost all territory of the 
Holy Roman Empire on the left or west bank of the 
Rhine. In exchange for the Netherlands, Austria re- 
ceived Venice. 

144. The Egyptian Campaign. — When Napoleon re- 
turned to France, he was already the greatest man in the 
country. Since Holland and Spain were no longer enemies 
but were practically allied with France (§ 140), and since 
Prussia had withdrawn from the war and Austria had 
been compelled to cease fighting, Great Britain was the 
only real antagonist which France had. In order to strike 
the British Empire a mortal blow, Napoleon conceived the 
plan of reaching India by way of Egypt, and the Directory, 
jealous of his growing fame, gladly furnished an army 
and a fleet. 

Napoleon reached Egypt successfully, having avoided 
an English fleet under Admiral Nelson. Almost under 
the shadow of the Pyramids he made a bombastic speech 
to his soldiers. " Forty centuries look down on you," he 
told them. Here he defeated the Mam'e-lukes, in the 
battle of the Pyramids. But a few days later Nelson 
cornered the French fleet in A-bou-kir' Bay and destroyed 



1 Austria was ready for peace. Having made an armistice with her, 
Napoleon then turned against Venice and occupied the city. Part of 
northern Italy was organized into republics on the model of France. 



NAPOLEON MASTER OF FRANCE 



175 



the ships one by one. This " battle of the Nile " cut off 
Napoleon's connection with France and made the escape 
of his army almost impossible. A year later Napoleon, 
having accomplished nothing, left his army, evaded the 
British cruisers which were watching, and arrived on the 
south coast of France. 

145. Napoleon as First Consul. — Meanwhile the 
French Directory had not maintained order at home or 




An English Cartoon — The Handwriting on the Wall 

repelled invasion abroad. In Napoleon's absence there 
had been organized against France a new coalition which 
already had gained several victories over the French. 
The coming of Napoleon to Paris gave hope for the 
organization of a new government.. On November 9 
(18th Bru-maire'), 1799, Napoleon and some associates 
dissolved the old government and created a new one called 
the consulate. Napoleon was chosen first consul for ten 
years, with extraordinary powers of appointment and 
government. In 1802 he was made first consul for life. 



Coup d'etat 
of the 18th 
Brumaire. 



176 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Italian 
campaign 
(1800) and 
Peace of 
Luneville 
(1801). 



The armed 

neutrality 

(1800) and 

general 

peace 

(1802). 



As the allies (i.e. the enemies of France) were most 
dangerous in Italy, Napoleon advanced to the Alps 
mountains and crossed the high ranges in five days. By 
quick marches he surprised the Austrians in the Po 
valley, and won, after he had almost lost, a battle at 
Ma-ren'go, 1800. In the Peace of Lu-ne'ville (1801) terms 
were made with Austria which were almost the same as 
those of Campo Formio : in this way Austria was forced 
out of the alliance and Napoleon gained the right to re- 
organize Germany. 

In the meantime Russia had difficulties with England 
because England attempted to control the trade of the 
North Sea and the Baltic Sea to her own advantage. 
With Russia were joined Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia 
in an armed neutrality. A forceful protest was made 
against England's treatment of neutral vessels and trade. 
When Nelson gained a victory at Copenhagen (1801), 
this alliance to protect neutral trade was dissolved. At 
Amiens, March 2, 1802, England and France finally agreed 
to a truce, the peace of Amiens (A-me-yan'), and for more 
than a year Europe was at peace. 



The French 

empire 

(1804). 



Napoleon in War and Peace (1802-1806) 

146. Reconstruction of the French Government. — 
After 1799 Napoleon, as first consul, had almost sole powers 
of government. In 1804 he procured a decree of the 
Senate by which the republic was ended and an empire 
was established. The Pope was brought to Paris for the 
coronation in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, but 
in order that the Pope might not maintain, as had his 
predecessors, that emperors were of right crowned by him, 1 
Napoleon completed the ceremony by seizing the crown 
from the Pope's hands and placing it on his own head. 

Under the empire more completely than under the 

i E. E. C, § 525. 



NAPOLEON IN PEACE 



177 



consulate Napoleon controlled the appointment of the 
Senate and the administrative bodies of the central 
government. He reorganized the police so that under 
Fou-che it was much more efficient than before. He 
maintained a censor- 
ship of the press and 
suppressed most of the 
country's newspapers. 

Napoleon retained 
the departments and 
smaller districts which 
had been organized by 
the Revolution (§130); 
but he went back to 
the old regime and re- 
vived the office of in- 
tendant, under the 
name of prefect, ap- 
pointing one such 
officer for each depart- 
ment, with a subpre- 
fect in each district. 
This centralized ad- 
ministrative system is still in use in France. Like their 
predecessors, the intendants, these officials of the central 
government had extensive powers. They appointed the 
mayors of the smaller communes, the mayors of the larger 
cities being selected by Napoleon. The only really repre- 
sentative governing bodies left were the municipal councils. 
He believed thoroughly that the French people desired 
personal and public security rather than political liberty, 
that they desired the prestige of France rather than 
even the " liberty, equality, fraternity " of the Revolu- 
tion. In all this he was undoubtedly right. 

One of the greatest and most lasting reforms made by 

















£'■:'.■■ 




'■'■?'ik 






■ 

• 
' : 




:« 










OLEON LK-: 1 Af ' 





Napoleon in his Coronation Robes 



Organiza- 
tion and 
arbitrary- 
rule under 
the empire. 



Centralized 
character 
of local 
govern- 
ment under 
Napoleon. 



178 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Napoleon's 
law codes. 



Attempt to 
enlarge the 
colonial 
empire 
of France. 



Church and 
State in 
France 
before 1789. 



Concordat 
of 1801 
between 
the Pope 
and 
Napoleon. 



Napoleon was in connection with the law codes which 
are explained later (§ 168). To this work he called the 
ablest men of France. To it he gave many of his own 
evenings, sitting at the table with jurists, asking search- 
ing questions, and suggesting short cuts by which the laws 
were simplified. 

Napoleon not only added to France new lands in Eu- 
rope (§ 143), but he desired to organize a colonial empire. 
The most valued of these possessions was the colony of 
Louisiana, which he had forced the king of Spain to cede 
to him in 1800. To protect Louisiana from any possible 
invasion of the English he sent an army to the New World, 
which was first to subdue Santo Domingo, on the island 
of Haiti. Through the influence of an able negro patriot, 1 
aided by the swamps of the island, Napoleon's army was 
destroyed. As he had now no troops for the protection 
of Louisiana and was ready for another conflict with his 
arch-enemy, Great Britain, Napoleon in 1803 sold Louisi- 
ana to the United States. 

147. Napoleon and the Church. — As we have already 
noticed, the Gallic Church had always been very inde- 
pendent in its attitude toward the papacy (§ 20), but all 
statutes of the old regime fully recognized the importance 
and the power of the Roman Catholic Church in the 
country. 

The early Revolution secularized the church lands, 
brought the clergy under the control of the government, 
and made the church practically a part of the state 
(§§ 131, 132). Later in the Revolution even less atten- 
tion was paid to the ancient rights and privileges of the 
church (§ 138). Napoleon realized fully that, at heart, 
the people were both Catholic and religious. For political 
rather than for religious reasons he desired to reestablish 
cordial relations between France and the papacy, and in 

1 Toussaint L'Ouverture. 



NAPOLEON IN PEACE 179 

1801 he made an agreement (Concordat) with Pope Pius 
VII. The Pope accepted the suppression of the monas- 
teries and the secularization of other church properties. 
Napoleon was to nominate the bishops, who were to be 
appointed by the Pope ; the bishops in turn were to 
appoint the priests. Catholicism was recognized as the 
religion of a majority of the French people. This ar- 
rangement lasted with slight changes until 1905 (§ 265). 

148. Other Changes. — Napoleon sought to surround The new 
himself by an elaborate court similar to that of the well ^nd legion 
established monarchies. Since most of the Napoleonic of honor, 
nobles were people of comparatively humble origin, he 
sought among the old nobility for instructors in the 
proper conduct of court procedure. With difficulty he 
persuaded the central government, made up chiefly of his 
own appointees, to create a legion of honor composed of 
those who, in Napoleon's opinion, had distinguished them- 
selves on the field of battle, in art, science, literature, or 
other branches of learning. 

Napoleon was much interested in public works and im- Public 
provements. He restored or enlarged many of the old ^oids^nd 
palaces. The magnificent art galleries of the Louvre inland 
were enriched with marbles and paintings which were the waterwa y s 
spoils of his campaigns. From Paris radiated a number 
of new and important military roads which were useful 
in his campaigns and were his especial pride. About 
two hundred other main highways were constructed else- 
where in France, and the improvement of numerous local 
roads was encouraged. Over the Alps he constructed the 
Mont Cenis (Se-ne') road and a highway across the Simplon 
pass, connecting Paris with Italy and especially Rome. 
;( The network of canals and waterways rendered avail- 
able for navigation was hardly even outlined in pre- 
revolutionary France. The works undertaken during 
the consulate and partially completed at the close of the 



180 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Plans for 
invasion 
of England 
and their 
failure. 



New 

successe 

against 

Austria 

(1805). 



empire were planned on a scale so vast and at the same 
time, with few exceptions, on such practical lines, that 
they constitute to-day by far the most important portion 
of the internal navigation of France." 1 

149. Trafalgar and Austerlitz. — The Peace of Amiens, 
1802 (§ 145), was recognized as a truce, and within a 
year war broke out again. The English did not send 

troops to the Continent; 
they contented themselves 
with subsidies granted to 
their continental allies. It 
was not until 1805 that 
Napoleon gathered at 
Boulogne (Bu-lon') on the 
northern coast of France 
a grand army for the in- 
vasion of England. As he 
needed to clear the Eng- 
lish channel of British 
fleets, the French naval 
officer, Villeneuve (Vil- 
nerv'), was ordered to 
draw Nelson, the English 
commander, across the Atlantic and to return immedi- 
ately himself in order to convey Napoleon's army across 
to England. Villeneuve failed to outwit Nelson, and the 
latter returned to Europe before the French fleet could 
do so. Later in the year 1805 Nelson absolutely de- 
stroyed the combined French and Spanish fleets off Cape 
Traf-al-gar'. From that time England had even more 
absolute control over the seas than before. 

Napoleon is reported to have expressed a desire for 
just one admiral who would do for the French on the 
sea what he and his marshals were doing continually 

i Cambridge Modern History, IX, 119, 120. 





v«& 




JtV* 




; \JH|^Bv 




• ■ '-^i 







Nelson 



NAPOLEON IN WAR 



181 



on land. When Villeneuve did not get back in time 
to help him invade England, the conqueror changed his 
plans and immediately marched his army through upper 




Arc de Triomphe. 



Germany and into Austria. Near Vienna, on the first 
anniversary of his coronation as emperor of France, he 
met the combined armies of Austria and Russia at Aus'ter- 
litz. The allies tried to overwhelm one of his wings, but, 



182 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Treaty of 
Pressburg 
(1805). 



Napoleon 
baits and 
defeats 
Prussia. 



Agreement 
of France 
and Russia 
to divide 
control of 
Europe. 



when he made a sharp attack with most of his columns 
against the Austro-Russian center, he crushed his op- 
ponents without difficulty and won an overwhelming 
victory. 

In the treaty of peace which followed, Austria lost 
large territories in Italy and in the upper Rhine valley, 
and the next year she was forced to dissolve the ancient 
but now unimportant Holy Roman Empire. The Em- 
peror had already (1804) assumed the title, " Emperor 
of Austria" (§ 163). 

150. Supremacy of Napoleon on the Continent. — 
Prussia had tried, for her own safety, to remain neutral, 
but in 1806 she was compelled to side with either Eng- 
land or France. After Napoleon had forced her into 
war, on the same day he made an attack upon the two 
Prussian armies at Jena (Ya'na) and Au-er-stadt'. The 
Prussian troops were badly organized and stupidly led ; 
that day saw the complete humiliation of the Prussian 
army and people. 

Napoleon was now practically supreme in western 
Europe, but the Russians still gave him trouble. After 
a series of battles he finally won a complete victory 
over them at Friedland, 1807. Although the Russians 
were forced to make peace, Napoleon was generous in 
order to have their friendship. On a raft in the middle 
of the river Nie'men, the French emperor and the Tsar 
Alexander arranged a treaty of friendship, the Peace of 
TiVsit, by which Europe was divided between them. 
Napoleon agreed that Russia might seize Finland, which 
was then part of Sweden; and should have some Turkish 
territory in eastern Europe, on condition that Russia 
should agree, if England would not make peace, to exclude 
from her markets all English-made goods. 



SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE 

1S02 

SC-LE ?f V'LSS , 
100 200 300 400 500 
Final Partitions of Poland IVi'3-5) 
Added to Eastern France (1795-1801) 
Republics dependent upon France 
ndaries of Holy Roman Empire 




SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE 
1810 

, SCALE OF MIT_ES 
100 200 300 400 600 
Frencli Empir 




TRIUMPH OF NAPOLEON 183 



Triumph and Downfall of Napoleon 

151. Napoleon's Continental System. — Since Eng- Reasons for 
land had complete control of the sea after 1805 and Na- 3^f dal 
poleon had complete control of the western part of the 
Continent after Austerlitz and Jena, it was not possible 

for either power to strike a blow at the enemy directly. • 
In consequence, there began a commercial war which was 
waged for a number of years. It involved not only France 
and England, but most of continental Europe and in 
addition those neutrals, such as the United States, which 
had an extensive commerce or carrying trade. 

Believing that the " race of shopkeepers," as he dubbed Aims of the 
the English, would be struck in a vital spot if he could reflations 
cripple their business, Napoleon tried to prevent the sale of France 
of English goods in all parts of the Continent. Since the j^ d ng ~ 
Industrial Revolution (§§ 187-192) made it possible for 
England to produce large quantities of cheap commodities, 
this would interfere greatly with her trade. England on 
the other hand sought to prevent the French and their 
allies from receiving supplies, particularly foodstuffs, 
from neutral nations and from the colonies of the West 
Indies. 

152. Orders, Decrees, and Embargos. — Napoleon Preliminary 
made the first move by closing the ports of Prussia to 
English ships. England responded by an order in coun- (1806) 
cil, in May, 1806, blockading the northern coast of Europe 
from the Elbe river to Brest. From Berlin, after the 
battle of Jena, Napoleon issued his famous Berlin Decree, 
For the British Isles he proclaimed a paper blockade, 
that is, a blockade unsupported by warships and there- 
fore not enforced, and declared that all English merchan- 
dise captured on the high seas or found in certain ports 
on the Continent should be subject to confiscation. 
These blockades, especially those of Napoleon, were not 



orders and 
decrees 



184 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Later 
drastic 
orders and 
decrees 
(1807). 



American 
embargoes 
(1807- 
1811). 



Napoleon's 
problems 
in enforcing 
the Conti- 
nental 
system. 



enforced, but English cruisers on the high seas seized 
neutral ships on the way to forbidden continental ports, 
and the French did not hesitate to take American vessels 
which were carrying British exports to the Continent. 

Much more drastic were the proclamations issued the 
next year. British orders in council, adopted in Novem- 
ber, 1807, demanded that all neutral vessels bound for a 
port of the enemy must first touch at an English port 
and pay duty or be liable to confiscation. When Napo- 
leon heard of these orders, he immediately issued his 
Milan Decree, declaring that all ships were forfeited 
which traded with Great Britain or stopped at an English 
port on their way to the Continent and paid duties. 
Between the millstones of English greed and French spite 
neutral commerce was likely to be ground to destruction. 

The Americans did not sit by and watch the destruc- 
tion of their commerce ; immediately Congress passed 
a general embargo, cutting off all trade between America 
and foreign countries. Since this did not prove effective, 
it passed two partial embargoes in order to compel France 
and England to repeal their orders or decrees. 1 

153. The Continental System in Practice. — The eco- 
nomic effects of the continental system we shall study 
later. We must now notice the effect it had upon the 
fortunes of Napoleon Bonaparte. He had gained military 
control of half of the European continent. Through an 
alliance with Russia at Tilsit (§ 150), he sought to gain 
economic or commercial control of the whole Continent. 
But it was one thing for Napoleon to defeat the armies of 
his enemies ; it was an entirely different matter to keep 
them from buying the things they needed or the goods 
which they could purchase cheaper elsewhere than he 
could sell them. In his attempt to control the business 
of Europe, through his commercial warfare against Great 

1 See Ashley, American History, §§ 238-241. 



TRIUMPH OF NAPOLEON 



185 




Britain, he had undertaken too great a task. He found 
that the English-made goods were smuggled into every 
city of northern Europe, even though those goods were 
taken and burned 
whenever they were 
discovered by French 
spies and officials. 

The Dutch, who at 
this time were ruled 
by Napoleon's brother 
Louis, father of the 
Emperor Napoleon III 
(§ 249), especially op- 
posed the continental 
system because their 
trade with the English 
was greater than that 
of any other continen- 
tal people. Since Louis did not force his subjects to obey 
Napoleon's laws, Napoleon deposed him and annexed 
Holland to France. 

Farther east, the Hanseatic towns, particularly Ham- 
burg, traded with the English on every possible occasion. 
But the smuggling was not limited to these foreign mer- 
chants. Along the north coast of France an enormous 
smuggling trade grew up. In fact, Napoleon granted 
thousands of licenses or permits to shipowners, who were 
allowed to bring to the Continent certain English-made 
goods which were needed or desired. In this way the 
emperor helped to break down the continental system. 

154. The Peninsular Wars. — Attempts to enforce 
the continental system led Napoleon into most of the 
campaigns which he fought between 1807 and 1813. In 
spite of the close commercial relations which had existed 
between England and Portugal for a hundred years 



Napoleon Threatening His Ship- 
master because He Did not Build 
Enough Ships to Run the English 
Blockade. (English Cartoon) 



Opposition 
of the 
Dutch. 



Evasion of 
the system 
even in 
France. 



Slow 

progress of 
the English 
in the 
Spanish 
peninsula. 



186 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Victory 
over and 
alliance 
with 
Austria. 



(§§ 50, 59), he tried to keep the Portuguese from trading 
with the British Isles. When they refused to obey his 
orders, Napoleon invaded Spain and Portugal. The dif- 
ferences with the Spanish led to the overthrow of the 
Bourbon monarchy in Spain and the appointment of 
Napoleon's brother Joseph to the throne. While Napo- 
leon remained in 
the field, the French 
were victorious in 
the peninsula ; but, 
whenever he left 
Spain, the English 
troops, under 
Wellesley, Duke of 
Wellington, with 
their Portuguese 
and Spanish allies, 
were almost as uni- 
formly successful. 
The peninsular 
campaigns, how- 
ever, went on for 
six years before 
Wellington's troops 
were able to cross 
the Pyrenees into 
France. 
155. Expansion of the French Empire. — With Na- 
poleon's attention taken up by affairs in the Spanish 
peninsula, Austria sought, in 1809, to regain her lost prov- 
inces. With the marvelous rapidity which marked prac- 
tically all his campaigns, Napoleon gathered an army, 
invaded Austria, entered Vienna, and at Wag' ram, within 
sight of the towers of the city, once more defeated the 
Austrians. Again Austria lost valuable and populous 




Duke of Wellington 



DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON 187 

provinces, for her aged minister advised peace upon any 
terms, predicting the downfall of Napoleon's empire 
within a short time. Nevertheless the ancient house of 
Habsburg welcomed an alliance with the " usurper," 
and in 1809 Napoleon, who had divorced his first wife 
Josephine, was married to the Austrian princess Maria 
Louisa (niece of Marie Antoinette). 

In 1810 the French empire was at its height. The 
empire proper included not only France, but the Nether- 
lands, the northwestern quarter of Italy, and the Illyrian 
provinces on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea. Within 
this area Napoleon was absolute master. In addition, 
there were numerous countries or leagues under his direct 
protection and supervision. These included the kingdom 
of Spain, ruled by Joseph Bonaparte, the kingdoms of 
Italy and Naples in the Italian peninsula, and the Hel- 
vetian republic (Switzerland). 

Since the reorganization of Germany in 1801 (§ 162), New de- 
Napoleon had been exceedingly liberal to the rulers of the ^ aiHes eS 
south German states. In 1806 he organized their princi- 
palities and a few others into the Confederation of the 
Rhine, which was under his control and protection, and 
furnished him troops. This confederation was later en- 
larged, particularly by the kingdom of West-pha'li-a, at 
the time that Prussia lost more than half of her territory 
after the battle of Jena. East of Prussia and north of 
Austria Napoleon organized out of Polish territories of 
Prussia the new Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which was also 
under his protection. At this time Napoleon was also 
allied with Denmark, Norwa} r , and other countries. 

156. The Russian Campaign (1812). — When Napoleon Russian 
married an Austrian princess, he offended Russia, for he sr ie . va ^ ces 
had gone first to that country for a royal wife. Russia Napoleon, 
was even more deeply concerned with the creation on its 
borders of a new Polish kingdom, even though that king- 



188 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Invasion 
of Russia 
and burn- 
ing of 
Moscow 
(1812). 



The 
terrible 
retreat from 
Moscow. 



dom was called simply the " Grand Duchy of Warsaw." 
In a sense the alliance between Russia and Napoleon 
was artificial, but the break between the two was due 
even more to the continental system. The English and 
the Russians had traded with one another from an early 
day. 1 Since England produced much cheaper goods 
than the Russians could make, and much better as well 
as cheaper than they could be produced by the French 
or their allies, the Russian people protested. In fact, 
practically all peoples of northern Europe objected to 
the continental system, since that system kept them 
from buying inexpensive cloth, and forced them to pay 
more than a dollar a pound for coffee and practically deny 
themselves the use of sugar. 

The break did not come, however, until 1812. Na- 
poleon wished to teach his former allies, the Russians, a 
thorough lesson. Gathering a force of nearly a half 
million men, Napoleon led the larger number of these sol- 
diers, the Grand Army, into Russia. His advance was a 
disappointment. The Russians refused to offer battle, 
retiring continually before him until they reached Bor-o- 
di'no, where Napoleon defeated their army at great cost 
to himself. A short time afterward he entered the capital, 
Moscow. The French troops pillaged the city until a 
fire started, which practically destroyed it and the supplies 
which it contained. 

As the peasants in the surrounding country were exceed- 
ingly bitter toward Napoleon, it was difficult for him to 
secure food. The government kept offering terms of 
peace in order that the French might be kept in Moscow 
as long as possible. The winter months coming on, 
Napoleon was finally forced to begin his retreat. He 
tried to follow a route to the west, but his way was blocked 
by the Russians. Storm succeeded storm. The French 

» Cf. E. E. C, §272.. 



DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON 189 

troops were starving. At least a third of their number 
were captured by the enemy, but even more died from 
hunger, cold, or other hardships. Of the once vast 
army, the greatest Europe had seen up to this time, but 
little was left when, two weeks before Christmas, they 
reached the Niemen river, the rear guard under Marshal 
Ney heroically keeping back the enemy. 

157. The Overthrow of Napoleon. — It is not strange The "War 
that the collapse of Napoleon's Russian campaign should °. f L j bera - 
have caused every nation in Europe to rise against him; (isi3). 
but his star was not yet set. With remarkable skill he 
raised new levies of troops, this conscription making 
nearly a million and a half soldiers that had been furnished 
by France since his accession to power in 1800. Fight- 
ing began anew in east Germany, where a " War of Libera- 
tion " was preached by Prussia, the national spirit of 
the German people being fully aroused. At Leip'zig 
in 1813 the " Battle of the Nations " was fought. Nearly 
three fourths of a million troops were engaged in this three 
days' contest. Napoleon was beaten but succeeded in 
withdrawing his army. 

Gradually Napoleon was forced farther and farther The French 
west, until in 1814 three large foreign armies advanced ?f^4f lgns 
upon Paris from the east and Wellington brought an army 
from the Spanish peninsula. At no time in his career 
was the military genius of Napoleon shown more plainly. 
He seemed everywhere at once, and his attacks had all 
the fire and skill of his earliest campaigns, but his brilliant 
minor victories only postponed by days or weeks the in- 
evitable result. Hopelessly outnumbered, he saw the 
attacking forces close relentlessly around his dwindling 
army of raw recruits. When, in March, 1814, Paris sur- 
rendered to the enemy, the emperor was still in the field, 
but he was unable to continue the contest. He signed 
preliminaries of peace and abdicated his throne, and 



190 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON 



191 



was banished to the little island of Elba, off the coast of 
Italy. 

158. The Waterloo Campaign. — Here Napoleon re- The return 
mained several months. Finally, in the spring of 1815, l[^ leon 
he escaped to France. His arrival was hailed with en- 
thusiasm, and his veterans gathered around him. Once 
more the great war seemed a reality, but Napoleon's 
work was done. He advanced into Belgium in order to 
attack English and other soldiers under Wellington in 
the north and a German force under Bliicher (Blee'ker) 
in the east. By forced marches Napoleon threw his 
army between those of his opponents. He first drove 
back Bliicher and then advanced against Wellington, 
whose army had marched south of Brussels. 

Here, near the village of Waterloo, on the 18th of The battle 
June, Napoleon fought his last battle. All afternoon f^^ 1 

he hurled his cavalry , _ ,.,„ -, 1815. 

and infantry against 
the steadfast lines of 
the British troops, but 
in vain ; his ablest 
leaders could make no 
impression on that 
" thin red line." About 
mid-afternoon he dis- 
covered that the Prus- 
sians, who, he had sup- 
posed, were retreating, 
were advancing from 
the east. Crowded in 
between the two at- 
tacking forces, he tried 

once more to break the ToMB OF Napoleon 

British front. Four thousand of his finest soldiers, be- 
longing to the old imperial guard, marched once more 




192 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Napoleon's 
victories 
and rise 
to power 
(1796- 
1802) . 



Peace 
achieve- 
ments and 
victories 
which gave 
him western 
continental 
Europe. 



across the bloody field against the position of the enemy. 
They reached the crest of the hill, only to be mowed 
down by the deadly infantry fire. In spite of their boast 
that the " old guard dies, but never surrenders," the 
survivors either gave themselves up to the British or 
struggled back to Napoleon's lines. Overwhelmed, 
almost cut off from escape, the remaining battalions of 
the emperor sought safety in flight. Napoleon's last 
battle had become his worst defeat. One day's fighting 
had given the allies a decisive victory, and Napoleon 
again abdicated, this time for good. He was sent to 
the rocky island of St. Helena, in the south Atlantic, 
where he spent the six remaining years of his life. 

159. Summary. — Napoleon, " the Corsican," was 
trained in military schools and first gained recognition for 
his skill in the artillery service. In 1796-1797 he won 
brilliant victories over numerous Austrian armies in 
northern Italy. He then tried to strike the English in 
India through Egypt. Returning to France, he reorgan- 
ized the government, becoming first consul and later 
making himself emperor (1804). In the Peace of Lune- 
ville (1801) he gained the west bank of the Rhine and the 
right to reorganize Germany (§ 162) ; in the Peace of 
Amiens (1802) he made a truce with his persistent enemy, 
Great Britain. 

Napoleon how reorganized the French government, 
strongly centralizing it and bringing it under his control. 
He forced on the Pope a Concordat, which made it pos- 
sible for him to speak of his bishops. He constructed 
roads and planned canals, and he organized systems of 
law (the Code Napoleon, etc., § 168) and of education 
(§ 169). Unable to invade England because Nelson 
destroyed his fleet at Trafalgar (1805), he overwhelmed 
the Austrians at Austerlitz (1805) and the Prussians at 
Jena (1806). This gave him control of western Europe. 



NAPOLEON 193 

At Tilsit (1807) he agreed to divide Europe with Tsar 
Alexander I of Russia. 

Since England controlled the seas, ' Napoleon tried to Napoleon's 
injure her by closing continental ports to her goods. -If gy S 1 t t e n ^ nta 
he could have succeeded in destroying the European 
market for the cheap goods that she produced because 
of the Industrial Revolution (Chapter IX), Napoleon 
would have won. He failed because he could not control 
western continental Europe even in a military and political 
way; to keep subject and allied peoples from buying 
what they needed, or where they could most cheaply, was 
of course impossible. 

The attempt to enforce his continental system brought Final cam- 
on the Peninsular wars with Portugal and Spain, which ^d™ 
Wellington finally won, and led to the invasion of Russia downfall. 
(1812), where cold and famine destroyed his Grand Army. 
Defeated at Leipzig (1813), Napoleon withdrew to France, 
where he was overwhelmed by the combined armies of his 
enemies. He was banished to Elba, returned, met the 
allies at Waterloo (1815), was defeated, and was banished 
to St. Helena. His empire, which had included France 
to the Rhine, Holland, part of northern Italy, and 
the Illyrian provinces, besides dependencies of Spain, 
the kingdoms of Italy and Naples, the Helvetian repub- 
lic, the Confederation of the Rhine, and the Grand 
Duchy of Warsaw, was reduced to France with the limits 
of 1789. 1 

General References 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, I, 523- 
581. 

Hazen, Modern European History, 152-248. 

Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, 232-285, 301- 
366, 400-445. 

1 On the disposition of territories in 1815, see the Congress of Vienna 
(§§ 170, 171). 



194 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Fisher, Napoleon. 

Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 187-335. 

Rose, Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era. 

Fournier, Napoleon the First. 

Johnston, Napoleon, A Short Biography. 

Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 74-407. 

Cambridge Modern History, IX, "Napoleon." 

Topics 

Early Life of Napoleon : Johnston, Napoleon, A Short 
Biography, 1-11; Fournier, Napoleon the First, 1-18; Rose, 
Life of Napoleon, 1, 1-22 ; Fisher, Napoleon, 7-28. 

The Continental System : Andrews, Historical Develop- 
ment of Modern Europe, I, 49-62; Gibbons, The 19th Century 
— Economic and Industrial Progress, 87-100 ; Bourne, The Revo- 
lutionary Period in Europe, 340-351, 361-366; Beard, Introduc- 
tion to the English Historians, 520-537. 

Trafalgar and Austerlitz : Fyffe, History of Modern 
Europe, 187-202; Johnston, Napoleon, A Short Biography, 112- 
129 ; Mahan, Influence of Sea Power on the French Revolution and 
Napoleon, II, 178-198. 

Waterloo : Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 387-404 ; 
Johnston, Napoleon, A Short Biography, 214-237 ; Rose, Life 
of Napoleon, II, 449-471 ; Creasy, Fifteen Decisive Battles, 367- 
386; Hugo, Les Miserables, "Waterloo." 

Studies 

1. First Italian campaign. Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 
80-100. 

2. Coup d'etat of 18th Brumaire (1799). Johnston, 
Napoleon, A Short Biography, 59-79. 

3. The French codes. Seignobos, History of Contemporary 
Civilization, 163-165. 

4. Sale of Louisiana. Adams, History of the United States, 
II, 25-50. 

5. Napoleon in peace. Hayes, Political and Social History 
of Modern Europe, I, 528-533 ; Seignobos, History of Contempo- 
rary Civilization, 155-169. 

6. The peninsular wars. Jeffery, The New Europe, 105- 
123. 



NAPOLEON 195 

7. The Russian campaign. Johnston, Napoleon, A Short 
History, 170-187. 

8. Napoleon at St. Helena. Rosebery, Napoleon, The Last 
Phase, 164-179. 

Questions 

1. What personal characteristics of Napoleon fitted him 
for his wonderful career? Describe in considerable detail 
his first Italian campaign. Why did he go to Egypt ? Explain 
successes and failures of his Egyptian campaign. 

2. What were the important problems of France in 1799? 
Show how the first consulate solved the internal problems, 
and Napoleon's successes against Austria, the external. Give 
provisions of the Peace of Luneville. Show the significance of 
the armed neutrality and the Peace of Amiens. 

3. Show what Napoleon did for France in time of peace. 
Explain need of more perfect government within France, of 
new law codes, and explain problems of a French colonial em- 
pire and of a state religion. What did Napoleon do for business? 

4. Describe the campaigns culminating in the battles of 
Trafalgar and Austerlitz. Show the significance of those two 
battles and explain the importance of the Peace of Tilsit. 

5. Why did Napoleon develop a continental system and 
what did he expect to do by that ? Explain the most important 
orders, decrees, and embargoes (1806-1807). Wh,at difficulties 

. did Napoleon encounter in enforcing his system : from England, 
from the French, f"om France's allies, from Americans? 

6. On a map point out the territory of the French empire 
proper, the tributary kingdoms or states, and the countries 
allied with France. 

7. Trace the downfall of Napoleon through the Russian 
campaign, the German War of Liberation, the campaigns east of 
Paris, 1814, and the Waterloo campaign. 

8. In what respects was Napoleon a great man? What 
work did Napoleon do for the betterment of the European 
peoples? 



196 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



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CHAPTER VIII 
RECONSTRUCTION AND REACTION (1800-1830) 

The Reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire 

160. German Disunity Before 1801. — The Holy Ro- "Germany" 
man Empire of the German nation was organized by Otto IJl.^Jf, 
I in 962 a.d. 1 Until the close of its struggle with the Ages. 
papacy about the middle of the thirteenth century, the 
empire played an important part in the general course 
of European affairs. 2 After that time it was chiefly a 
feudal state, loosely organized, whose real rulers were 
the princes of separate states in the empire. Whoever 
was Archduke of Austria, the head of the house of Habs'- 
burg, was almost invariably chosen emperor. 

After the Thirty Years' War 3 the empire was little "Germany" 
more than a name. As Voltaire wittily stated in the organized 
eighteenth century, it was neither holy nor Roman nor feudal 
imperial. Whereas feudalism as a political force had g**en- 
disappeared from most of the continent of Europe several teenth and 
centuries earlier, and other countries had organized mon- centuries 
archies and had become united, " Germany" was still a 
disunited feudal state. At the beginning of the nineteenth 
century it was made up of more than three hundred 
principalities, of which sixty were free cities, such as 
Hamburg and Lu'beck. Each of these principalities 
was self-governing. In addition there were more than a 
thousand distinct fiefs, occupied by knights or church- 
men, which had survived from the Middle Ages. 

i E. E. C, § 525. « e. E. C, §§ 526-533. 

3 E. E. C, §§ 704-707. 

197 



198 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Lack of 
unity and 
social 
progress 
(1800). 



Modern 
"German ' 
ideas con- 
trasted 
with old 
" German ' 
ideas. 



" German " 
philosophy 
and poetry. 



Even at the beginning of the nineteenth century there 
was, of course, no uniform law for the whole empire ; in 
each state or principality there had survived many 
feudal customs. For example, each local district had its 
own laws, as was the case in France before 1789 (§ 113). 
Serfdom was almost universal throughout the empire, 
although Joseph II had freed the serfs in distinctively 
Austrian lands (§ 109), and some other rulers had fol- 
lowed his example or had been influenced by the changes 
in France after 1789. 

161. Old Culture in Central Europe. — We can see from 
the preceding section that at least two ideas which we 
think of as distinctively "German" must be just as 
distincti'/ely modern, for they were not found in 1800 
in the Holy Roman Empire, or as it was commonly called 
" Germany." These two are the idea of unity and the 
idea that everything important is done for the good of the 
whole society rather than for the individual. A century 
and a half ago these ideas had little place in either the 
theory or the practice of the " German " people. To these 
people "Germany" was little more than a name; yet 
they became accustomed to think of all central Europe as 
" German." Later the present German Empire, which 
must not be confused with old " Germany," insisted that 
she be allowed to control the territory of the Holy Roman 
Empire. To the people of old " Germany," however, as to 
most other men in western Europe, the rights of man, 
of the individual, were all -important. This extreme in- 
dividualism finds expression in many ways. It is particu- 
larly prominent in their philosophy and their culture. 
It may account to some slight degree for their music. 

Among the dramatists and poets of this age was Goethe 
(Ge'te) whose best-known work is, of course, the drama 
Faust. Schil'ler was somewhat more versatile than 



REORGANIZATION OF HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 199 

Goethe though- less distinguished as a poet. His history 
of the Thirty Years' War is a valuable study of that 
period. Wallenstein is his best-known drama. 

Since the beginning of the eighteenth century there "German" 
have been numerous " German " composers, of whom we P reeminence 

L in music. 

need name only two, Mo-zart' and Bee-tho'ven. Old 
"Germany" also gave us some familiar tunes. There is 
practically no connection between this old "German" 
music and modern Prussianized "kultur." None of 
these leaders came from Brandenburg (Prussia) . 

The old "German culture" was not only a matter of Relation of 
pride to the " German " people ; it contained elements that * he °} d ™ 1_ 

1 . ture to the 

have been held in high esteem among other nations. In- problem of 
stead of solving, however, the problem of disunity which u £ lfying >s 
we have just considered, and the further problem of re- 
organization, which we must now take up, these ideas and 
this old "German culture" worked against rather than 
for nationality and a modern Prussianized "Germany" 
dominated by militarism and a lust for world conquest. 

162. The Reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire Extinction 
after the Peace of Luneville. — Like most other changes ° f Q erman »» 
made in "Germany" between 1625 and 1860, the reor- states 
ganization of the country was forced upon her from with- ^ e e s t -^ ne 
out. By treaties with Prussia and Austria before 1800 
France had obtained an indefinite right to the lands on 
the left or western bank of the Rhine river. 1 By the 
Peace of Luneville (1801, § 145) she gained a clear title to 
all territories west of the Rhine, thus extending her east- 
ern boundaries to the Rhine river. Within this area there 
were extinguished one hundred and eighteen separate 
free cities, states, or principalities, which had been 
members of the Empire. To these princes dispossessed 
by the French, Austria as the head of the empire was 

1 Treaties with Prussia (1795) (§140) and the Peace of Campo 
Formio (1797) f§ 143). 



200 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Extinction 
of very- 
many "Ger- 
man "states 
east of the 
Rhine. 



The 

struggle for 

territorial 

spoils. 



compelled to promise compensation, that is, other lands 
east of the Rhine. 1 

In point of fact the reorganization of the Holy Roman 
Empire was the work of Napoleon and his secretaries. 
Most of the knights' lands ceased to be fiefs. The ecclesi- 
astical properties also became integral parts of the states 
to which they belonged territorially. Besides the one 
hundred and eighteen principalities west of the Rhine 
which were destroyed by Napoleon, there were one hun- 
dred and sixty others east of the Rhine which lost their 

separate existence. To his 
friends, the rulers of the 
South " German " states, 
Napoleon gave additional 
territories ; upon some of 
them he conferred the title 
of king. 

In the redivision of lands, 
" Talleyrand and his con- 
fidant Mathieu had no 
occasion to ask for bribes, 
or to maneuver for the posi- 
tion of arbiters in ' Ger- 
many.' They were over- 
whelmed with importuni- 
ties. Solemn diplomatists 
of the old school toiled up four flights of stairs to the office 
of the needy secretary, or danced attendance at the 
parties of the witty minister. They hugged Talleyrand's 
poodle; they vied with one another in gaining a smile 
from the child whom he brought up at his house. The 




Talleyrand 



1 In order to keep the friendship of the new Russian tsar, Alexander I, 
Napoleon made agreements with Alexander soon after the Peace of Lune- 
ville by which Russia was to be consulted in the rearrangement of the 
" German" states. 



REORGANIZATION OF HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 201 

shrewder of them fortified their attentions with solid 
bargains, and made it their principal care not to be out- 
bidden at the auction. Thus the game was kept up as 
long as there was a bishopric or a city in the market." * 

163. Later Reorganization (1804-1806). — By this Destruction 
reorganization of " Germany" the number of states was ^d^ri i 
reduced from more than three hundred to fewer than areas as a 
fifty. Moreover, several of the petty states were now P re P ar a tl0n 
kingdoms under the protection of Napoleon, at this time united 
by far the most powerful ruler of Europe. This destruc- Ger "„ 

^ r ^ many. 

tion of these petty feudal states and fiefs paved the 
way for the formation of a modern national state, a 
necessary change. The large number that existed before 
1800 could never have been brought together voluntarily 
into a modern monarchy or republic. 

Seeing that the Holy Roman Empire had practically End of the 
been destroyed, the Archduke of Austria proclaimed him- !? oly 
self Emperor of Austria, a title which the ruler of Austria Empire 
still holds. In 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was for- (1806) - 
mally dissolved by Napoleon (§ 149). 

In the same year, 1806, Napoleon organized a Confeder- The Con- 
ation of the Rhine, which was intended to form a buffer federation 

J ' of the 

state between France and Austria. The Confederation Rhine, 
was composed of Bavaria, Wiir'tem-berg, Baden, and 
several other states. The rulers within the Confeder- 
ation of the Rhine were necessarily loyal to Napoleon and 
were forced to furnish him with 63,000 soldiers. In this 
Confederation many French reforms luere introduced. 
Serfdom was abolished and everywhere the Code Napo- 
leon was put into operation. One of the states protested 
vigorously that the Code Napoleon could not possibly 
meet its needs, but, before the protest was heard, the 
code was in excellent working order in that territory, 

1 Fyffe, Modern Europe, 166-167. 



202 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Military 
reorganiza- 
tion of 
Prussia 
after 1807. 



and the opposition came to nothing. By the Peace of 
Tilsit, Napoleon, with the consent of Russia, took away 
from Prussia all her territories west of the Elbe river. 
There was organized the kingdom of Westphalia, which 
was given to one of Napoleon's brothers. Westphalia 
and other states in north-central " Germany " were in- 
cluded in the Confederation of the Rhine. To them 
French ideas and reforms were extended (§ 155). 

164. Prussia after the Defeat by Napoleon. — The 
loss of her possessions west of the Elbe was not the chief 
change which Napoleon made in Prussia. Practically 
all territory which Prussia had gained in the second 
and third partitions of Poland (§ 65) was organized 
into the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which was under the 
protection of Napoleon. Furthermore, within the terri- 
tories left to Prussia, less than half her former area, 
the French emperor ruled as a conqueror. He quar- 
tered his troops, numbering more than one hundred 
thousand, in the homes of the Prussian people. In the 
treaty of peace he demanded not only troops, but an in- 
demnity, the amount of which was to be determined later ; 
and more than a billion francs were undoubtedly taken. 

In the days of the early Hohenzollerns the Prussians 
had been noted for their military prowess. Frederick 
the Great and his father had the best armies in Europe. 
Smarting under the failures of 1806 and 1807, they 
therefore began to reorganize their army. 1 Later, at the 

1 They dismissed practically all of the old commanders. The success 
of the French under Carnot and of other peoples in later years had shown 
that citizen armies were infinitely superior to armies of paid mercenaries. 
At the command of Napoleon 42,000 citizens were trained each year, 
presumably for Napoleon's use, really for Prussia. At the end of a year 
these men were retired or placed in the reserves, their places being taken 
by new recruits. In consequence, when Prussia finally made war on 
Napoleon, she had an army of more than one hundred fifty thousand men 
who had had military training, some of whom had seen actual service 
in war. 



REORGANIZATION OF HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 203 

time of the later Napoleonic wars the Prussians made 
use for the first time of universal military conscription, a 
system which is in use practically everywhere on the 
continent of Europe at the present time. 

The years after 1807 brought other epoch-making Work of 
changes to Prussia. Among these were new universities ^J^ n m 
and schools (§ 169), and a reorganization of municipal reforms and 
government. 1 Since serfdom had been abolished in her "q*^ 8 
former western possessions, now the kingdom of West- many." 
phalia, and in her former 
eastern territories, now 
the Grand Duchy of War- 
saw, Prussia was forced in 
self-defense to abolish 
serfdom within her own 
boundaries (§ 201). The 
abolition of serfdom and 
the beginning of other 
social reforms were due in 
part to the enthusiasm of 
Prussia's minister, Baron 
vom Stein. Stein was an 
alert and crafty states- 
man ; more than any other 
man in " German " public 

life, he was responsible for the regeneration of the " Ger- 
man " nation. He preached a united " Germany" and 
for it he worked unceasingly. His idea is expressed best 




Stein 



1 In the new central government little share was given to the people, 
but burghers were allowed to select the municipal councils. Although 
this did not apply to the smaller villages, for the smaller villages were still 
too much dominated by the nobles, it is in a real sense the beginning of 
the municipal government which has been so distinguishing a character- 
istic of " Germany " in the last half century (§§463, 467). We can see 
from this summary that prolonged wars are likely to bring revolutionary 
changes to a naturally ultra-conservative country like Prussia. 



204 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



in his own words : "I have but one fatherland, which is 
called Germany . . . with my whole heart I am devoted 
to it, and not to any of its parts." 

165. The " German" Confederation. — In 1815, after 
the overthrow of Napoleon, Germany was organized into a 
Confederation. There were thirty-eight states, of which 
two, Austria and Prussia, were far more important than 
others. The presidency of the Confederation was vested 
perpetually in the ruler of Austria. Four of the states 
were also kingdoms : Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Saxony, and 
Hanover. Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck were the only 
three left of the sixty free cities of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. The affairs of the Confederation were controlled 
by a diet which met at Frankfort. This body, however, 
was about as inefficient as the American Congress under 
the Confederation, following our Revolutionary War. 
This German Confederation managed, or, more truly, 
mismanaged the affairs of the German people until it was 
destroyed by Prussia in 1866 (§ 246). 



The Reconstruction of Europe (1789-1815) 

166. The Modernization of Western Europe. — Even 
in the last half of the eighteenth century continental 
Europe was in many respects still medieval ; in fact in 
many countries the old regime was a combination of 
medievalism and absolutism. We have noticed (§§ 107- 
109) that the benevolent despots tried to introduce some 
reforms in their own dominions. There were two serious 
limitations, however, on their work : they did not go 
below the surface and they undertook only those reforms 
which appealed to their egotism and pride. Nowhere did 
men gain more political rights ; nowhere were real liberty 
and equality granted. 1 

1 In France, before 1789, less had been attempted than in Austria and 
Prussia. 






RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE 205 

The French Revolution asserted that sovereignty The prin- 
rests with the people of a nation rather than with their ^ les , 
monarch. But this new idea of the sovereignty of the which 
people attacked the very foundations of absolute mon- Eur °P e 
archy, and the idea that the people of any country formed ernized. 
a nation was denied by the local privileges of the provinces 
and by the local patriotism of the people. The revolu- 
tionists also proclaimed three principles which were not 
medieval. These were " liberty, equality, fraternity." 
With these revolutionary ideas the old regime had noth- 
ing in common. Liberty was meaningless as long as half 
of the common people were still serfs. Equality threat- 
ened the privileges of the church, the nobility, and even 
of the merchant class. With all its power, therefore, the 
old order resisted the attacks of these new ideas when the 
French people, as a nation, demanded personal freedom, 
equal rights before the law, and at least some share in 
their own government. 

With typical French enthusiasm the old order was swept The work 
away in France early in the course of the Revolution. But ° f the 
a country cannot be organized and governed by ideas, as tion. 
we find when we compare our own laws and institutions 
with our Declaration of Independence. It required the 
organizing ability of Napoleon to give France a strong 
government that should be modern, though despotic. 
Wherever Napoleon went he carried the ideas of the 
new order. By imitation, or to check the career of the 
French emperor, other countries abolished serfdom, or 
introduced better laws. However, only those lands 
which were under French influence or control for at least 
a decade retained the changes which were introduced 
under the rule of Napoleon ; later, the others either for- 
got or neglected or rejected the new ideas. 

167. The Development of Nationality. — A nation 
may be defined as a group of sovereign people, living 



206 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Early be- 
ginnings 
and slow- 
growth of 
national- 
ity. 



Difficulties 
in forming 
nations ; 
the problem 
of Italy. 



How 

Napoleon's 
conquests 
aroused the 
national 
spirit of 
Spain and 
Germany. 



within a definite area under a single government, who 
have common ideas in regard to all important public 
interests or policies. Even in the Middle Ages the 
English and the French people were becoming nations. 
Elsewhere in Europe the development of nationality was 
much slower. Even in France the people of the country 
did not wake up to the fact that they formed a nation 
until the last part of the eighteenth century. The de- 
velopment of French nationality was also retarded by the 
systems of local laws and special privileges in different 
provinces and communities (§§ 3, 113). 

In other countries of the Continent, the number of dif- 
ferent laws, customs, and organizations before 1789 was 
even greater than in France. Only one, Spain, had a 
strongly centralized government. Consequently, it was 
more difficult for the people of these other lands to un- 
derstand what a nation was, and to organize themselves 
into nations. In Italy, to be sure, Napoleon appealed 
directly to the national spirit of the Italian race. Al- 
though Italy was never united under Napoleon, Napoleon 
did create a " Kingdom of Italy," 1 and the enthusiastic 
Italian liberals looked forward to the time when there 
should be a single, united kingdom of Italy comprising 
the whole Italian peninsula. 

The spirit of Spanish nationality was really aroused 
for the first time when Napoleon conquered Spain in 
1808 and placed his brother Joseph on the throne. For 
the first time in history the Spanish people were really 
united, and they were united to throw off the yoke of their 
conqueror. The patriotic opposition of the Spaniards to 
Napoleon undoubtedly influenced the people of Germany, 
whose leaders urged Germans to unite 2 and overthrow 
the rule of the French emperor. 

1 This included only a part of northern Italy. 

2 As early as 1806 Fichte (Fik'te) had delivered a series of " Patriotic 



RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE 207 

168. The Code Napoleon. — In the opening years of the Before 1800 
nineteenth century, a new era began in the legal and edu- Eur °P ean 
cational systems of western Europe. Frederick the Great had many 
had reduced some old laws of Prussia to a code, 1 but else- lo ^f* antl ~ 
where the laws were old, unsatisfactory, and incomplete, systems 

as well as local and unjust. After France had abolished of laws< 
the old local systems of law (§ 130), of which she had 
several hundred, and had abolished also the privileges 
and inequalities of the old regime, it was possible to 
have uniform national laws and law codes that would 
be worthy of a great and modern nation. 

A beginning was made before the time of Napoleon, The law 
but the great civil code of 1804, known as the Code codes gave 

; many coun- 

Napoleon, gave France her first modern code of laws, tries new 
This work was completed under Napoleon's direction in na ^ lonal ^ 
four months. 2 It was copied by other nations and is systems of 
now the basis of the civil law in Belgium, Holland, Italy, law- 
and some of the southern and western German states 
(§ 163). French codes for criminal and commercial 
law were added later. It may be said that " the codes 
preserve . . . civil equality, religious toleration, the 
emancipation of land, public trial, the jury of judg- 
ment." 

169. Education. — Education at public expense was The be- 
one of the ideas of the French Revolution (§ 139), but the g^f °/ a 
revolutionary statesmen were never able to carry their education 
plans into effect. It was left for Napoleon to devise and ^ de J leon 
establish a system of public schools from the primary 

grades to higher institutions of learning. 

Addresses to the German Nation." Stein and other statesmen, philos- 
ophers, and poets also preached a united Germany. 

1 Cf. Austria, § 109. 

2 German critics sneered at work done so hastily and superficially. 
In fact, the code was defective in many particulars, but its principles and 
its existence (as an example to other countries) were of great importance 
to Europe in this period of change. 



208 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Napoleon divided the schools into several classes : the 
primary or elementary, the secondary or grammar, and the 
lycees or high schools. He aimed to carry out the plans 
of the Convention and have lower schools in each com- 
munity and high schools in all large towns. He organized 
the entire system of schools into the University of France, 
centralizing it and bringing it under government super- 
vision. At the close of his career, however, Napoleon 
found that the students in private schools outnumbered 
those in his recently established state institutions. 

Not only France but Prussia and other countries im- 
proved their systems of education during this period. In 
spite of the heavy taxes levied on them by Napoleon, the 
Prussians made generous contributions for the new Uni- 
versity of Berlin. 

From this brief summary we can gain some slight idea 
of the influence that the French Revolution and Napo- 
leon exerted on modern Europe. Before 1789 western 
and central Europe had in a half-hearted way sought to 
reform the old regime. In France it was absolutely 
destroyed and a new order of things was established. 
Elsewhere the people began to realize that the old regime 
should be abolished or greatly modified. They did not 
modify it greatly, but they were learning. As is the case 
with all true education, the process was necessarily a slow 
one. As the peoples learned, they demanded the complete 
reform of the old abuses. After a time, if the old privileges 
remained and the new rights were not granted, they 
would rise in their might and wrest them from their rulers 
or other oppressors. 



Reaction and Intervention (1815-1830) 

170. The Congress of Vienna (1815). — After the over- 
throw of Napoleon (§ 157), it was necessary to rearrange 
the map of Europe. To do this diplomats of the great 




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REACTION AND INTERVENTION 209 

Powers met in Vienna in 1814 and were entertained for Desire of 
months in a round of balls and banquets. They followed the c ° n ~ 

x ^ gress to 

eighteenth- century methods and ideals. They forgot protect the 
that the national spirit of most of the peoples of Europe gI ? at 
had been aroused. They forgot that these peoples wanted 
constitutional governments instead of absolute rulers. 
They forgot that an economic revolution was beginning 
to turn the former serf into a workman and an artisan. 
They forgot everything except that the great rulers of 
Europe must be cared for, and that each ruler must have 
at least as much territory and as many subjects as he had 
before the terrible French Revolution. 

The " Congress " of Vienna was simply an unorganized Problems 
gathering of diplomats from the different European coun- ° f the 
tries, for no session of all the representatives was ever held. 
They insisted on restoring all legitimate rights and ter- 
ritories, but they ended by grasping whatever new lands 
and powers they could find reason for keeping or seizing. 
There was great difference of opinion about the settle- 
ment of conflicting claims. Russia and Prussia, deter- 
mined to have their full share, were opposed by Austria 
and England. Talleyrand, the most skillful and un- 
scrupulous diplomat of his time, not even excepting 
Met'ter-nich, played off these opponents against each 
other and made the place of France secure in the con- 
ferences. The reappearance of Napoleon, and the 
Waterloo campaign, caused the former allies to forget 
their differences and agree upon compromises (June, 1815). 

171. Territorial Changes (1814-1815). — The chief con- Russia 
troversies in the Congress of Vienna were over the dis- f^ s "} 

& Finland 

posal of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and over the and Poland, 
territories in Germany ruled by kings or princes friendly 
to Napoleon. In the final arrangement Russia gained 
the chief advantages, inasmuch as she acquired title not 
only to Finland, which had been conquered during the 






210 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




C O 



REACTION AND INTERVENTION 211 

Napoleonic wars, but also to most of the Grand Duchy 
of Warsaw. This Polish territory was organized as a 
semi-separate kingdom under the tsar of Russia, but with 
a separate constitution. Its location brought Russia into 
far closer relations than formerly with Prussia on the west 
and Austria on the south. 

Prussia was anxious to secure in exchange for her former The prob- 
Polish territories the whole of the kingdom of Saxony, ™ atinrf 
whose king had been a steadfast ally of Napoleon's. This Prussia for 
arrangement was opposed by Austria, which feared the ^ Tries 
further extension of Prussia southward, and b}^ Talley- 
rand, who believed that Saxony should be retained as a 
kingdom. Instead, Prussia was compensated by Posen, 
by the northern two fifths of Saxony, by Westphalia, and 
by territories on the west bank of the Rhine. These 
territorial arrangements left Prussia with widely scat- 
tered possessions, but it made her a more distinctively 
German power than ever before, and it gave her Rhine 
provinces which made her the natural defender of Ger- 
many against her old enemy, France, certainly an unwise 
arrangement for Talleyrand's native land. 

In return for the Belgian Netherlands, which were Other terri- 
united with Holland under the house of Orange, Austria ^ n ^ 
acquired Venetia, Lombardy, and the Illyrian provinces. 
In addition, Habsburg princes occupied the thrones of 
several Italian states. Norway was taken from Denmark 
and given to Sweden, which transferred part of Pome- 
rania to Prussia, and thus lost her last possessions in Ger- 
many. France had about the same territory as in 1789, 
but Great Britain kept Helgoland, Malta, Cape Colony, 
Ceylon, and part of Guiana, which had been seized by 
her during the great wars. 

172. The Restoration in Europe (1815). — In the 
states of western continental Europe after 1815 the powers 
of the monarchs were limited by constitutions, although 



212 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Unimpor- 
tance of the 
new con- 
stitutional 
govern- 
ments. 



The restora- 
tion in 
France. 



The 

German 
Confedera- 
tion. 
The 

Restora- 
tion in 
Austria. 



the people had no real share in the government. In 
Spain, for example, the constitution of 1812, granted dur- 
ing the troublous Peninsular wars (§ 154), was discarded 
at once, and a policy was introduced of interfering with 
the freedom of the press and of religion, and of suppressing 
the liberals, that is, those who believed in constitutional 
government. 

In France the Bonapartist adherents were hunted out 
and in some cases shot ; Marshal Ney, " the bravest of 
the brave," was one of the victims of this vengeance. 
For a time, however, the liberals gained control of the 
government, until the ultra-royalists, taking alarm once 
more, suppressed liberalism entirely. They tried to de- 
stroy freedom of the press, and they voted a billion francs 
as compensation to nobles for lands which had been con- 
fiscated during the days of the Revolution. 

Germany was reorganized, a confederation of 38 states 
under the leadership of Austria (§ 165) taking the place 
of the Holy Roman Empire whose existence Napoleon 
had brought to a close. In some of the petty German 
states the princes tried to reestablish courts and inequali- 
ties such as existed under the old regime. Austria es- 
tablished her old system of police interference, with " im- 
provements " copied from the methods of Napoleon's 
able chief of police, Fouche (§ 146). 1 The privileges of 
the nobles and the oppression of the peasants were as 
characteristic of the " Restoration " as of the old regime. 

173. Metternich and the Holy Alliance. — After 1815 
the allies that had beaten Napoleon in the great cam- 
paigns still kept watch over France and over Europe. 



1 "The head of this department boasted that he had 'perfected' the 
system of Fouche, an achievement similar to that of painting the lily. 
Censorship was applied to theaters, newspapers, books. . . . Spies were 
everywhere, in government offices, in places of amusement, in educational 
institutions. Particularly did this government fear the universities, 
because it feared ideas." Hazen, Europe since 1815, p. 27. 



REACTION AND INTERVENTION 



213 



As they feared the outbreak of either a revolutionary or 
a Bonapartist movement in France, an army of occupa- 
tion was kept in that country. In 1818 the allies held a 
conference at Aix-la-Ohapelle, the old capital of Charle- 
magne, for the purpose of deciding whether the army of 
occupation should be withdrawn from France. Strictly 
speaking, this was still the Grand Alliance of Napoleon's 
time, but, practically, 
it was identified with a 
new Holy Alliance. 1 At 
Aix-la-Chapelle France 
was admitted to the 
allied conference, and 
the powers accepted 
the policy of Metter- 
nich, the great Austrian 
minister, of maintain- 
ing the established 
order of things against 
republicanism and rev- 
olution. 

The policy of the 
Holy Alliance is illus- 
trated by the methods 
adopted by Metternich in Germany. A gathering of 
members of a society that had branches in many uni- 
versities had burned some writings that denounced 
liberalism. A year later a Russian, who had been a 
liberal and had turned reactionist, was murdered by a 
German student. . Metternich now had no difficulty in 
securing the support of the king of Prussia and the tsar 




Metternich 



The Holy 

Alliance 
opposes 
republican- 
ism in 
Europe, 



The 

Carlsbad 
decrees 
(1819). 



1 The Holy Alliance had been proposed by Alexander I of Russia in 
1815. It was a personal alliance of the emperors of Russia and Austria 
and the king of Prussia to promote religion, peace and order. Other 
princes were asked to join the Alliance. 



214 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



of Russia for his policy of suppressing liberalism every- 
where. A meeting of representatives from the larger 
German states was held in 1819, at Carlsbad, and resolu- 
tions were adopted which are called the Carlsbad Decrees. 
These decrees aimed to prevent the teaching of liberal 
ideas in the universities and in other ways to suppress 
the liberals. They represented the attitude of Metter- 
nich toward liberalism, and Metternich's attitude became 
that of the Alliance for several years. 

174. Revolution and Intervention. — The policy of 
suppression soon led to protest in several countries. It 
happened that the kingdoms of Spain and Naples were 
ruled by monarchs of the same name, Ferdinand, each of 
whom gave his country a rule that was disgraceful. 
Many of the American colonies of Spain declared them- 
selves independent, and in 1820 revolutions broke out in 
both these countries. The Ferdinands were forced to 
grant to their subjects constitutions which were like the 
old Spanish constitution of 1812. The next year the 
people of the kingdom of Sardinia 1 gained for themselves 
a similar consideration. 

Metternich was both alarmed and pleased : alarmed be- 
cause he saw that other peoples would revolt against the 
arbitrary rule of their monarchs unless these revolutions 
were suppressed ; pleased because he could now turn to the 
Alliance and demand that it should intervene in order to 
put down the revolutions. A series of congresses 2 was 
held by the Alliance. Austria was authorized to send 
her troops, first to Naples and then to the kingdom of 
Sardinia, for Italy was under Austria's special care. 
Later, France was asked to send an army to restore the 

1 Although the kingdom of Sardinia takes its name from the island of 
Sardinia, it really was the kingdom of Piedmont in northwestern Italy. 
Compare with the names Prussia and Brandenburg (§ 66). 

2 Congresses were held at Troppau (1820), Laibach (1821), and 
Verona (1822). 



REACTION AND INTERVENTION 



215 



Spanish Ferdinand to his throne, a task which she found 
easy. 

175. The Spanish-American Colonies and the Monroe 
Doctrine. — England had protested when the Powers 
intervened in Italy and Spain. When they decided that 
France might help Spain reconquer her rebellious American 
colonies, she did more than protest, as we shall see. 
During the years that Napoleon had tried to rule Spain 
(1808-1814) (§ 154) these colonies had had a taste of 
freedom, and during that interval they had selected some 
of their own rulers and had enjoyed free trade with other 
countries, especially England. 1 After the battle of 
Waterloo the Spanish col- 
onies in America, restored 
to Spain, resented more 
than ever the arbitrary 
and unjust Spanish rule, 
and therefore took the first 
occasion to rebel. 

In 1820 England was as 
anxious to have the people 
of Latin-America for cus- 
tomers as she had been in 
1808. She therefore gave 
the Powers to understand 
that although Spain might 
reconquer her colonies if 
she could, no outsiders 
might help her do it. Her 
foreign minister, Canning, proposed to the United States 
that this country join her in a protest against the inter- 
vention of the Alliance in the Spanish colonies. As the 

1 England needed markets, because she had cheap goods to sell (§ 194) 
and was at this time being shut out of a large part of the Continent by 
Napoleon's continental system (§ 151), 




Canning 



Interest of 
the colonies 
and Eng- 
land in 
their de- 
pendence. 



216 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



United States did not wish to do anything that would 
lead to an " entangling alliance " with any European 
country, the offer was declined. 

When, however, Congress met some months later (De- 
cember, 1823), President Monroe transmitted his famous 
message containing the statements which we now call the 
original Monroe Doctrine. He declared that we had 
never taken part in purely European affairs and that 
Europe should not interfere in purely American affairs. 
He insisted that America was no longer open to further 
European colonization, 1 and stated that any attempt on 
the part of the Alliance to suppress republicanism in 
the Spanish-American republics, some of which we had 
already recognized as independent, would be considered 
an unfriendly act toward the United States. 

176. The Independence of Greece. — The plans of 
the Alliance to suppress all people who tried to gain 
independence were checked when they decided to leave 
the Spanish-American colonies alone. But America was 
a long way from Europe, so that the failure to reconquer 
the colonies for Spain did not matter greatly. Events 
in Greece finally put an end to all ideas which the Alliance 
had of intervening in other countries to uphold the 
rights of the reigning monarchs. 

Greece had revolted against the cruel rule of the Otto- 
man Turks, not only because the Turkish rule was bad, 
but because the Greeks had a different religion and 
wanted to govern themselves. The revolt did not suc- 
ceed, but dragged on because the Greeks kept up guer- 
rilla fighting in the hills, with which the country abounds. 

The people of Europe sympathized strongly with the 
revolutionists, for Greece has a glorious history, and in 



1 This statement was inserted because Russia had been attempting to 
extend the boundaries of her colony of Alaska south along the Pacific 
coast. 



REACTION AND INTERVENTION 217 

1827 the Powers sent warships to compel the governor of The allies 
Egypt, who had come to the support of the Turkish g^™ 606 
Sultan, to withdraw his forces. The Powers did not wish inde- 
to intervene in Greece, either for the Greeks or for the pen ence * 
Turks. However, the fleet of the allies became involved in 
a battle (Na-va-ri'no, 1827) with the fleet of the governor 
of Egypt, and the Egyptian fleet was destroyed. The 
Powers at once sent troops to Greece, and Turkey was 
obliged to give Greece her independence (1829). After 
the allies had intervened for the independence of a people, 
Metternich's system of intervention for suppression of 
liberalism was little regarded. 

177. Summary. — In 1800 Germany was the most dis- The re- 
united country of Europe. There were more than 300 J^ 1 ^f Za ~ 
autonomous principalities or cities in addition to about Germany. 
1400 independent noblemen or prelates. Old German 
culture, noted for its philosophy (Kant), its literature 
(Goethe and Schiller), and its music (Mozart and Bee- 
thoven), made the people content, and indifferent to 
political unity or military glory. Napoleon at Lune- 
ville after 1801 not only destroyed the separate exist- 
ence of the tiny feudal or ecclesiastical territories, but 
also extinguished the sovereign or governing rights of 
nearly 300 states or cities, 118 of which on the west bank 
of the Rhine were absorbed by France. Napoleon also 
dissolved the Holy Roman Empire (1806), organized the 
Confederation of the Rhine, and modernized western 
Germany by many reforms. When he took away half 
of Prussia's lands and humiliated her in other ways he 
caused her to reorganize her army and military system 
and abolish serfdom. After Napoleon's overthrow in 
1815, a German Confederation of 38 states was organized. . 

Before 1789 the old regime was in full force in western The recon- 
continental Europe, for the reforms of the benevolent g ru ctionoi 
despots had not gone below the surface. With the in- 



218 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



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REACTION AND INTERVENTION 219 

troduction of the French idea that the nation is sovereign, 
and the revolutionary principles of " liberty, equality, 
fraternity," carried by Napoleon's armies, the old regime 
was doomed. Only the French realized in 1789 that they 
formed a nation, but the Italians soon interested them- 
selves in that idea, and Napoleon's conquests and insults 
aroused the national spirit of Spain and of Germany. 
Among reforms carried by Napoleon beyond the borders 
of France were a new system of education and the or- 
ganization of law codes based upon the model of the 
Code Napoleon. 

Western Europe was not ready for such abrupt, radical Reaction 
changes ; as soon as Napoleon was overthrown (1815), mention*" 
its old rulers began to restore their old boundaries, their (1815- 
former methods, and their old rights. They suspended 1830) ' 
constitutions forced from them in Napoleon's time. They 
suppressed, by the use of " third degree " methods, free 
speech, democratic movements, and conspiracies against 
their tyranny. By the Carlsbad decrees in Germany, 
and by decisions of conferences of the important Powers, 
organized into a grand alliance (Holy Alliance) and guided 
by Metternich, they intervened everywhere in Europe 
to suppress insurrection and liberalism. They wanted 
also to regain for Spain the Spanish colonies in America, 
but refrained from doing so when England protested and 
the United States announced the Monroe Doctrine (1823). 
When the western countries helped Greece to gain her 
independence from Turkey (1829), Metternich's scheme 
of intervention lost all its force. 

General References 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 1-62. 
Hazen, Modern European History, 249-279. 
Seignobos, History of Contemporary Civilization, 92-203. 
Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 166-173, 240-246, 368-602. 



220 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, 267-300, 317- 
339, 367-413. 

Andrews, Historical Development of Modern Europe, I, 86-257. 

Topics 

Reorganization of Germany : Fyffe, History of Modern 
Europe, 167-173, 240-246 ; Ogg, Economic Development of Modern 
Europe, 103-112 ; Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 225-227, 257- 
261 ; Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, 292-300. * 

Congress of Vienna : Hazen, Modern European History, 
249-257 ; Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, 
II, 5-14 ; Andrews, Development of Modern Europe, I, 90-102. 

The Holy Alliance and the Reactionary Congresses : 
Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814, 747-759; 
Jeffery, The New Europe, 180-195 ; Andrews, Development of 
Modern Europe, I, 117-125; Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 
408-411, 478-513; Cambridge Modern History, X, 1-39. 

Studies 

1. Germany in 1789. Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 33-40. 

2. Work of the Revolution, Seignobos, History of Contem- 
porary Civilization, 121-135. 

3. Significance of the era of Napoleon. Hayes, Political 
and Social History of Modern Europe, I, 573-576. 

4. The restoration in Prance. Hazen, Modern European 
History, 270-276. 

5. The reaction in Germany. Miiller, Political History of 
Recent Times, 1-22. 

6. The reaction in Spain and Portugal. Hayes, Political 
and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 20-28. 

7. Canning and his policies. Fyffe, History of Modern 
Europe, 517-524. 

8. The independence of Greece. Hayes, Political and Social 
History of Modern Europe, II, 47-50. 

Questions 

1. Explain the following conditions in Germany before the 
nineteenth century : political disunity, lack of social develop- 
ment, German ideas and philosophy, German literature and 
music. 



RECONSTRUCTION AND REACTION 221 

2. What was the nature and the extent of German re- 
organization after the Peace of Luneville? What was the 
significance of reorganization at that time, of the abolition of 
the Holy Roman Empire, and of the formation of a Confedera- 
tion of the Rhine? 

3. Compare the territory of Prussia before 1806 and after 1807. 
Describe the new military policy of the Prussians and compare 
it with that used by them to-day. What work for Prussia 
and Germany was accomplished by Baron Stein ? How was 
the German Confederation organized after 1815? Compare 
it with the United States under the Confederation. 

4. Name the three great principles of the French Revo- 
lution and show specifically how each affected the old regime. 
Define the term nation. To what extent had nations been 
formed before 1789? The national spirit of what peoples was 
aroused by Napoleon? (Explain in what way in each case.) 
In what countries is the law at present based upon the Code 
Napoleon? What was done for education during this period? 

5. Explain the problem of the Congress of Vienna. Describe 
in detail the territorial changes, showing particularly what 
Russia, Prussia, and Austria lost or gained by the shifts. 

6. What is meant by the restoration? by the reaction 
after 1815 ? What was the nature of the restoration in general 
in Europe ; in France, Germany, Austria, and Spain in particu- 
lar? What was the Grand Alliance? What was the Holy Alli- 
ance? Why do people usually speak of either after 1818 as the 
Holy Alliance ? 

7. What were the Carlsbad decrees? What was the effect 
of the Revolution of 1823 ? What policy was used by the Powers 
of Europe? Name at least two general congresses and show 
what liberal movements were suppressed by each. 

8. Give some idea of the history of the Spanish colonies be- 
fore 1808. Why were they half free from 1808 to 1814? When 
they revolted about 1820, what was the attitude toward them 
taken : (a) by the Holy Alliance ; (b) by England ; (c) by the 
United States ? Name three important principles of the Monroe 
Doctrine. 

9. What was the extent of Turkish territory in Europe in 
1700? (See map opposite page 71.) How much had that area 
been reduced before 1800? Show the importance of the Greek 
revolution in relation to general European affairs. 



in common. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE ECONOMIC REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND 

England before the Industrial Revolution 

Disadvan- 178. Agriculture at the Beginning of the Eighteenth 

open-field^ Centui T- — The three-field system, 1 better known as the 
system with open-field system, which was used on the medieval Eng- 
?« L«IfJ?°« lish manor, continued in use over about three fifths of 
England until the eighteenth century. 2 This system, as 
we have seen, was exceedingly wasteful, as one third of 
the land was uncultivated each year. The numerous 
strips of each tenant were separated so that he was com- 
pelled to travel an unnecessarily long distance in order 
to visit or cultivate all of them. Since all of the strips in 
any one field were plowed or harrowed at one time, and 
since the same crop was sowed over a large area, it was 
impossible for any one tenant to improve his methods 
unless all his neighbors agreed to do the same thing. For 
example, if one tenant wished to drain his land, he aroused 
the anger of the neighbor on whose land the water was 
turned. It was not possible for any one to introduce 
new crops, such as clover or root vegetables, unless all 
the villagers did the same. A careful farmer, who had 

1 E. E. C, § 492. 

2 Not only was most of the land in England still cultivated under the 
three-field system, but an immense area, probably one third of the arable 
area of the country, was waste land, swamps, or moors covered with wild 
grasses or brush. Other waste lands were to be found on almost every 
estate. Much excellent agricultural land was also used for grazing. 
On this land a single flock of sheep for each estate was herded by the 
shepherd. 

222 



ENGLAND BEFORE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 223 

removed the weeds from his own land, found that the 
seeds from his neighbors' strips produced new weeds 
which quickly choked his growing crops. 

It is quite true that two fifths of the farmers of England Backward 
had already abandoned the open-field system and had se- ^fseparate 
cured for themselves as tenants separate, compact little tenant 
farms. These compact farms were usually cultivated more farmers - 
successfully, allowing a larger crop of grain than did a sim- 
ilar number of acres under the open-field system. How- 
ever, many of these farms were very small, and the farmers 
lacked sufficient capital to buy horses, cattle, and sheep, 
to purchase the best plows and harrows, to drain the 
land properly, and to have suitable sheds for housing their 
stock. In order to use the best farming methods known 
at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it was neces- 
sary for agriculturists to have fairly large farms and a 
relatively large amount of capital. 

179. Home Industry for Home Use. — We speak of Some ar- 
the English country people as agriculturists or farmers, * 1C {^ ™ a ^ 
yet they were very much more than that. The freehold of the vil- 
farmer as well as the tenant dwelt with his family in a lage farmer - 
tiny farmhouse, in which many indoor occupations were 
followed when the weather was bad and it was impossible 
to work out of doors. "Women spun wool into coarse 
cloth ; men tanned their own leather. Wealth only 
existed in its simplest forms, and natural divisions of 
employment were not made, because only the rudest 
implements of production were now used. The rough 
tools required for the cultivation of the soil, and the rude 
household utensils needed for the comfort of daily life, 
were made at home. In the long winter evenings farm- 
ers, their sons, and their servants carved the wooden 
spoons, the platters, and the beechen bowls ; fitted and 
riveted the bottoms into the horn mugs, or closed, in 
coarse fashion, the holes in the leathern jugs. They 



224 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



plaited the wicker baskets ; fitted handles to the scythes, 
rakes, and other tools; cut the staves, and fixed the 
thongs for the flails ; made the willow or ashen teeth for 
rakes and harrows, and hardened them in the fire ; fash- 
ioned ox yokes and forks, racks, and rack-staves ; twisted 
willows into scythe cradles, or into the traces and other 
harness gear. Traveling carpenters, smiths, and tinkers 
visited farmhouses and remoter villages at rare intervals 
to perform those parts of the work which needed their 
professional skill. But every village of any size found 
employment for such trades as those of the smith and 
carpenter. Meanwhile the women plaited the straw 
for the neck-collars, stitched and stuffed sheepskin bags 

for the cart saddle, 
wove the stirrups and 
halters from hemp 
or straw, peeled the 
rushes for and made 
the candles. Spinning 
wheels, distaffs, 
needles, were never 
idle. Coarse home- 
made cloth and linen 
supplied all wants." 1 

180. Home Industry 
for Woolen Markets. 
— In the attic of his 
home the farmer plied 
his loom, weaving into 
cloth the yarn which 
had been spun by the 
women of the house- 
hold. Our word spinster shows that the unmarried sisters 
or daughters of the farmer devoted special attention to 

i Traill and Mann (eds.), Social England, V, 132-133. 




Spinning Yarn 



ENGLAND BEFORE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 225 

the spinning wheel. The wool from which the yarn and 
cloth was made usually came from the sheep belonging to 
the farmer. In consequence this one little farm supported 
by its agriculture an entire family, and, by its yarn and 
cloth products, brought extra money for the purchase of 
some comforts and luxuries. 

Daniel DeFoe, who is best known to us as the author DeFoe's 
of Robinson Crusoe, gives us a graphic picture of a of SC " pt !t n 
district in northern England, in which the people devoted England 
more attention to spinning and weaving than they did JS^*? 8,1 
to farming. This country he says is blessed by abundant 
power. " I mean coals, and running water on the tops 
of the highest hills. I doubt not but there are both 
springs and coals lower in these hills; but were they to 
fetch them thence, it is probable the pits would be too 
full of water : it is easy, however, to fetch them from the 
upper parts, the horses going light up, and coming down 
loaden. This place, then, seems to have been designed 
by providence for the very purposes to which it is now 
allotted, for carrying on a manufacture, which can no- 
where be so easily supplied with the conveniences neces- 
sary for it. Nor is the industry of the people wanting 
to second these advantages. Though we met few people 
without doors, yet within we saw the houses full of lusty 
fellows, some at the dye-vat, some at the loom, others 
dressing the cloths; the women and children carding, 
or spinning; all employed from the youngest to the 
oldest; scarce anything above four years old, but its 
hands were sufficient for its own support. Not a beggar 
to be seen, nor an idle person, except here and there in 
an alms-house, built for those that are ancient, and past 
working." 

181. Condition of the Agricultural Classes. — At the Different 
beginning of the eighteenth century more than half of classes - 
the population of England was engaged in agriculture. 

Q 



226 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Standards 
of living. 



British 
and 

Huguenot 
artisans. 



A sharp distinction should be made between the landed 
aristocrat, the freeholder who owned a very small farm, 
the tenant who rented from the aristocrat a farm of 
twenty or thirty acres, either in strips or in a single com- 
pact area, and the cotter, who occupied a cottage on the 
" waste," with two or three acres of land. 

Because of the industry of the people, they were com- 
paratively comfortable and enjoyed a decent standard 
of life. Unfortunately, more money was spent for ale 
and beer than for any other commodity, but most of 
the beer was home-brewed, and therefore comparatively 
wholesome. Meat was used much more commonly 
than it had been in the days of Chaucer, or in the time 
of Shakespeare. Meat was not yet eaten, however, 
by most of the poorer people, and they were obliged to 
depend chiefly upon porridges or dishes made up of 
wheat, rye, and other grains. Neither prices nor rents 
were very high. Nevertheless, many people in England 
during the first half of the eighteenth century were 
obliged to secure help from the government in the form 
of poor relief. 

182. Industry, Old and New. — Although most goods 
were manufactured in the homes of the workers, there 
were many artisans employed in shops in the towns. In 
addition to the craftsmen of English descent, these arti- 
sans included many skilled immigrants, chief among 
them the Huguenots, who fled from France even before 
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but particularly 
after Louis XIV unwisely took away their religious rights 
and privileges (§ 57). These Huguenot workers were 
especially famous as silk weavers; in consequence the 
manufacture of silk became an important English indus- 
try. They were also skillful in the making of sails and 
of lace. In addition to the wool and silk industries a large 
amount of linen was spun and woven by the people, chiefly 



ENGLAND BEFORE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 227 



in rural districts in Scotland and in Ireland. Iron manu- 
facturing was developing to some extent, and coal was 
mined more extensively than in any former time. 

During the early part of the eighteenth century a new 
capitalist class was engaged in the cloth industry. They 
would buy wool from the farmers, gathering it over a large 
area and transporting it on pack horses to workers 
who would clean and card it. It was then transported 
to those who spun the wool into the thread or yarn, 
and carried, possibly 
a long distance, to the 
master weaver who 
turned out the finished 
cloth. From these 
again the " clothier 
capitalists " took the 
cloth, which they sent 
to market, usually at a 
distance. This work 
of the early eighteenth 
century capitalists was 
an attempt to organize 
the cloth industry on 
a large scale, making use of the special advantage 
of one section of country for the raising of sheep and 
the cultivation of wool, and also of the skill of par- 
ticularly competent carders and spinners and weavers in 
other sections. 

We can see from this brief survey that agricultural 
and industrial methods in England in the early part of 
the eighteenth century were crude compared with those 
in use to-day. We can see also in the tendency to aban- 
don the obnoxious open-field system, in the introduction 
of new crops and methods, in the newer organization of the 
industries, and most of all in the more extensive use of 




Old-fashioned Hand Loom 



Old 

methods 
and new in 
the early- 
eighteenth 
century. 



228 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

capital in farming and in manufacturing, the beginning 
of those agrarian and industrial revolutions which created 
a new England before the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. 

The Agrarian Revolution 

Methods 183. Early Improvements in Agriculture. — Dutch 

from°the farmers whose land was limited in amount had proved 
Dutch. long before 1700 that it was not necessary to leave a 

third or a quarter of the arable land uncultivated. By a 
wise rotation of crops, planting grain one year and some 
entirely different crop the next on the same field, they 
had shown that continuous cultivation was possible and 
desirable. A few Englishmen who had separate farms 
began to copy the methods of the Dutch and other 
advanced and progressive continental farmers. They 
planted clover or vegetables with deep roots which would 
stir up the soil and give it a chance to renew itself. 
Work of the In England there were a number of men who experi- 
experi- nglS m ented with new crops and methods. One of these, 
menters. Jethro Tull, instead of planting vegetables in a haphazard 
fashion, made use of a drill which planted seeds at the 
proper depth and the proper distance apart. Another 
of the enthusiasts for the new agriculture was Lord Town- 
shend, who devoted to the cultivation of turnips a fair part 
of his estate, on which it was said that two rabbits had 
fought for every blade of grass. Before this time there 
had been so little hay and fodder for the cattle that it 
was necessary to kill most of them in the fall, preserving 
the meat with salt for use in winter. By the use of tur- 
nips and other foods it was possible to keep a supply of 
fodder for cattle in winter, and the cattle could be fattened 
far more than formerly. Posterity feels gratitude toward 
this man, ridiculed by his contemporaries and nicknamed 
" Turnip Townshend." 



THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION 



229 



184. New Demands for Food, and Later Improvements. 

— The agrarian and industrial revolutions (§ 187-192) 
made England rich. Towns grew rapidly and there was 
a greater demand for food than had existed before. Many 
farmers were therefore willing to try the new agriculture 
because larger crops were a necessity. 

Before this time the cattle and sheep of England had 
been used comparatively little for food. In fact farmers 
had preferred oxen with long shanks and heavy bones 
suitable for dragging a wooden plow through heavy turf 
to cattle Avith large bodies and a tendency to fat. 
They also preferred those breeds of sheep that gave a 
good crop of wool, because the carcass was very seldom 
used. During this century, however, the demand for 
food made it desirable to raise cattle and sheep chiefly 
for the market. 1 

185. Enclosures (1750-1840). — With the demand 
for more food and new methods it was necessary to aban- 
don the old open-field system and enclose in compact 
farms all cultivated land, including the commons. 2 The 
costs of this were considerable. Since the nobles who 
owned the great estates usually had far more capital than 
the small farmers — especially if the oldest son had mar- 
ried the daughter of a large merchant or if a successful 
business man had bought up the estate — the large landed 
proprietors gained most of the advantages which came 



Influence of 
wealth and 
growth of 
population. 



Raising 
cattle and 
sheep for 
food. 



Why enclo- 
sures 
created 
large 
landed 
estates. 



1 In 1710 the average weight of cattle sold in the Smithfield market 
was 370 pounds ; in 1795 it was 800. The average weight of calves 
increased from 50 pounds to 148 ; of sheep from 28 to 80 ; of lambs from 
18 to 50. This shows clearly that although most farm animals in 1700 
may have been chiefly "skin and bone," they were really valuable for 
food by the end of the century. 

2 In a few cases enclosure was brought about by the common consent 
of all the farmers of an estate. Ordinarily it took place under a general 
act of Parliament. The enclosure not only caused abandonment of the 
old open fields with their numerous separate strips, but it also included 
most of the commons and a very large amount of waste land. 



230 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



from enclosure and the new agriculture. It benefited 
also the progressive, ambitious tenant. 

There were several classes living in the rural districts 
that were injured rather than benefited by the enclosure 
system. Among these were the ordinary tenant farmers 
who had neither the capital nor the skill to make use of 
new opportunities. If they could not remain as tenants, 
they became laborers for their former landlord or some 
fellow farmer, or they drifted to the towns, where they 
found work in the factories, or they became public charges. 
Another class which suffered was the small landowner, 
the descendant of the freeholder of the Middle Ages. 
His problem was similar to that of the tenant class just 
considered, because his farm was too small for the new 
agriculture and he usually lacked capital for necessary 
improvements. It was wiser, therefore, for him to sell 
his land to the landed proprietor than to attempt to cul- 
tivate it for himself. Enclosure was fatal for the cotter 
class, since there was only a limited number of cottages. 
It was not possible therefore for a young laborer to marry 
and settle down until some cottage was vacant. With 
the enclosure of the open fields and the waste, the cotters 
were left "between the devil and the deep sea," so that 
cotters as a class disappeared from England. 

186. General Results of the Agrarian Revolution. — 
These changes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries 
radically transformed the land situation in England. 
In 1700 one farmer out of three owned or had, by custom, 
tenant rights in a farm of more than five acres. In 1900 
less than a quarter of a million persons cultivated their 
own land. During the last fifty years several laws have 
been passed for the purpose of increasing the number of 
land-owners in England and in Ireland. The success of 
the latter we shall study later (§ 365). The former have 
accomplished little because before January, 1911, only 



THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION 231 

eight thousand applicants l had been cared for, with a 
total of less than 100,000 acres. It will thus be seen that 
although the agrarian revolution improved England agri- 
culturally, it helped to make England a country of large 
landed proprietors, and it hastened the disappearance 
of that yeoman class which had made her famous in the 
Middle Ages. 

The Industrial Revolution 

187. First Improvements in Spinning and Weaving. Spinners 
— As we have already seen, in the period before 1750 and 

J \ r ... weavers. 

spinning and weaving were done at home. 2 As spinning 
was a simple process compared with weaving, it was 
performed by women or girls in their spare moments. 
The weaving on the contrary was hard work, which could 
be done only by men. A long-armed man had a decided 
advantage over a short man, because it was necessary to 
throw the shuttle across from one side to the other. If 
only one man was at work at a loom, the cloth was of 

1 Two farmers out of five live outside of the towns. In 1876 in the 
country "nearly one half of the enclosed land of England and Wales was 
owned by 2250 persons ; while at the same time nine tenths of Scotland 
was owned by 1700, and two thirds of Ireland by 1942." 

1 "The first necessary step in cloth making is to straighten out the 
threads of the fibre, which is done in the case of wool by combing, in the 
others by carding, both being done at that time by hand implements. 
The next step is spinning, that is, drawing out the fibres, which have been 
made parallel by carding, into a slender cord, and at the same time 
twisting this sufficiently to cause the individual fibres to take hold one of 
another and thus make a thread of some strength. . . . When the 
thread had been spun it was placed upon the loom ; firmly spun ma- 
terial being necessary for the ' warp ' of vertical threads, softer and less 
tightly spun material for the 'woof or 'weft,' which was wrapped on 
the shuttle and thrown horizontally by hand between the two diverg- 
ing lines of warp threads. After weaving, the fabric was subjected to a 
number of processes of finishing, fulling, shearing, dyeing, if that had not 
been done earlier, and others, according to the nature of the cloth or the 
kind of surface desired." (Cheyney, Ind. and Soc. Hist, of England, 
205-206.) 



232 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Kay's flying 
shuttle and 
the demand 
for spun 
yarn. 



necessity narrow, because he could not throw or hand the 
shuttle across a wide space. For the weaving of broad 
cloth two men were needed. 

Since many people were engaged in spinning, there 
was usually an abundant supply of yarn, although one 
weaver could keep four or five spinners busy. In 1733 
Kay patented a flying shuttle which was thrown across 
from one side to the other by alternately pulling two 
cords. This left both of the weaver's hands free for weav- 
ing and permitted one weaver to make cloth much wider 
than before. As it also increased greatly the demand for 
spun yarn, many weavers were idle because there was 
not sufficient material to keep them occupied. 

188. Later Inventions in the Textile Industry. — The 
supply of yarn and thread remained inadequate for many 
years. In 1764 a weaver named Har 'greaves, noticing 
that a spinning wheel which had been accidentally over- 
turned continued to revolve, invented a machine in which 
eight threads could be spun at the same time. This he 
called the " spinning jenny.'' 1 A few years later Richard 
Arkwright for the first time applied power other than 
hand power to the making of textiles. He invented a 
water frame in which the spinning was, done by water 
power. Less than ten years after this improvement, 
Crompton combined the inventions of Hargreaves and 
Arkwright into a single machine called a " spinning 
mule," which made use of water as power and spun a finer 
and stronger thread than any of the older machines had 
been able to turn out. It can easily be seen that these 
three successive inventions made it possible for the 
spinners to produce very much more yarn than the hand 
weavers could possibly use. 

In 1785 a clergyman named Cartwright made the first 
power loom, by which weaving was done, not by hand but 
by power. It was nearly thirty years, however, before 



INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



233 



this loom was practicable. When power looms did come 
into common use, however, after the overthrow of Napo- 
leon, they revolutionized the textile industry more than 
all previous inventions. 

In spite of the fact that wool raising, spinning, and 
weaving had been the chief industries of England for 
centuries, these inventions were made first for the cotton 
rather than for the wool industry. The last of the series 
of inventions which was to make cotton cheap and usable 
was not completed in England at all, but by a Con- 
necticut Yankee, Eli Whitney (1793). Whitney's contri- 
bution was the cotton gin, which separated the cotton 
fiber from the seeds a thousand times as rapidly as the 
work could be done on the southern plantations by negro 
hand labor. 

189. The Steam Engine. — The invention of new 
machinery for spinning and weaving was only part of 
the great Industrial Revolu- 
tion, because similar changes 
were brought about by the 
discovery of new means for 
developing power, that is, new 
uses for coal and new means 
for utilizing steam for power. 
The iron industry also was 
reorganized at this period, 
and new and better methods 
of transportation were de- 
vised. 

About the beginning of the 
eighteenth century an inven- 
tor named Newcomen im- 
proved an old " steam engine" so that the great 
expansive power of steam could be used in pumping 
water out of mines and in lifting weights. Newcomen' '$ 




Newcomen's Steam Engine 



Invention 
and adop- 
tion of 
power 
looms. 

Completion 
of cotton 
manufac- 
turing in- 
ventions. 



Other 
phases of 
the Indus- 
trial Revo- 
lution. 



Watt in- 
vents a 
practical 
steam 
engine. 



234 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Improve- 
ments in 
the form 
of iron. 



Develop- 
ment of 
iron foun- 
dries and 
coal mining 
in northern 
England. 



engine was exceedingly crude. 1 In 1763 James Watt, 
a mathematical instrument maker, was asked by the 
University of Glasgow to repair a Newcomen engine. 
He began immediately to experiment with means by 
which the steam could be drawn off from the cylinder 
and condensed without the wasteful process of cooling 
the engine. After several years he was able to make 
a practical condenser, and by 1776 the steam engine 
was being used as a source of power in a number of 
ways. In time the steam engine was improved wonder- 
fully; it was used in transportation on steamboats and 
for locomotives, as well as for the mechanical power that 
was produced by the engine of the stationary type. 

190. Iron and Coal. — The development and perfection 
of these machines, especially when used for power or with 
power, gave impetus to both the iron industry and coal 
mining. Before this time iron had been exceedingly 
brittle, but a series of inventors, of whom Cort may be 
remembered, developed new methods of smelting and 
cooling iron. By a process of stirring the semi-liquid, 
smelted iron, Cort was able to get rid of a large part of 
the carbon which had made the metal brittle. His iron 
was known as malleable iron, because it could easily be 
worked into different forms and shapes without break- 
ing. It was much stronger than the older kind of iron. 

In the older process of iron making, charcoal had been 
used extensively, but inventors discovered means for 
making coke out of coal and using the coke in the smelting 
of iron. Since the best coal beds are located in the north 
of England or in Wales, the new iron industries were 
established in northern England, just as the new textile 



1 After the steam had entered the cylinder and driven up the piston, 
it was necessary to spray cold water into the cylinder in order to condense 
the steam. This cooled the cylinder very much, and it took a great deal 
of steam to heat it again properly. 




BORMAY 4 C0.,EN3R'S,K.J. 



INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 235 

factories were also established in northern and north- 
western England, where they had abundant water power 
and were close to extensive coal beds. 

It was soon found that factories which used steam 
power turned out a much larger product than those that ^i d • 
depended on waterfalls. There arose in consequence a coal mining, 
great demand for coal; which is second ,to no other prod- o f Jjf e ltl011 
uct of England in the development of her industries 
and commerce. New methods of coal mining were devel- 
oped. The Watt steam engine was used by progressive 
mine owners in pumping out water, in sinking deeper 
shafts, and lifting coal out of the mine. Less progres- 
sive mine operators still clung to the older processes by 
which the coal was carried by women or children along 
the galleries of the mine and by ladders to the surface of 
the ground. We shall notice later (§ 343) that the con- 
ditions in these mines were very bad until the middle of 
the nineteenth century. 

191. Transportation. — In the first half of the eight- Constmc- 
eenth century England followed the example of Hoi- tlOQ o f 
land, France, and Prussia in the construction of artificial 
waterways or canals. The first important canal was that 
made by the Duke of Bridgewater, who possessed large 
coal mines seven miles from the town of Manchester. 
Finding that the cost of transporting coal on horseback 
was too expensive, as the demand for coal grew, the Duke 
connected his estate with Manchester by canal. He was 
able to carry coal to the city for a maximum charge of 
six shillings a ton, a price much less than the former cost. 
Other canals were built, among them one connecting Man- 
chester with the sea, which has since been developed into 
the Manchester ship canal and has made Manchester a 
seaport. By 1830 England had nearly four thousand 
miles of canals and navigable rivers. 

This same period witnessed the improvement of the 



236 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Improved 
surfacing 
and greater 
use of main 
highways. 



Develop- 
ment of the 
modern 
steamship. 



execrable highways (§48), some of which became turn- 
pikes. A Scotch engineer, Macadam, devised a plan of 
surfacing roads with crushed stone, a method which sur- 
vives in the pavement known as macadam. Although 
the main highways were improved somewhat, the ordi- 
nary roads were in wretched condition until late in the 
nineteenth century. Passengers were carried over these 
highways in special coaches which made excellent time. 
The trip from London to Edinburgh, a distance of 395 
miles, was covered in forty-two hours and thirty-two 
minutes. Several shorter trips were made at the rate 
of from ten to eleven miles an hour. 1 

192. The Application of Steam to Transportation. — 
The steam engine was used much earlier in steamboats 
than on railways. This was probably due to the fact 
that boats were in use before its invention, whereas rail- 
ways were not developed until later. Different inventors, 
English and American, had tried to propel boats by steam 
before Robert Fulton succeeded in making the steamboat 
a success. In 1807 his " sidewheeler," the Clermont, 
made voyages from New York to Albany. Within a 
few years a sailing vessel, the Savannah, propelled in 
part by steam, crossed the ocean, but it was not until 
1837 that steamers made this longer voyage. Nor was 
the screw propeller which is used now for steamships 
invented by John Ericsson until some years later. 

In order to reduce the jolting and the friction to which 
coaches were exposed on turnpikes, rails were laid on 

1 Speed rather than comfort must have been the object desired, for 
the travelers of that day make as many unkind remarks about the high- 
ways as did the travelers a century earlier (§ 48). The apparent cost 
of these trips was not excessive because, if one rode outside, the actual 
fare reckoned in shillings and sovereigns was usually less than that of the 
first class railway carriage at the present time, and only about double 
that of the third class charges on British railways to-day. Of course the 
shilling in that day had a much higher purchasing power than has the 
shilling of to-day. 



INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



237 



highways or on private rights of way. The first coaches Early rail- 
were drawn by horses, and it was not until the close of the ^^^ d 
wars against Napoleon that locomotives were first used tives. 
for hauling coaches 
or cars. The " Puff- 
ing Billy" (1813) 
was practically the 
first steam locomo- 
tive. About 1825 
the first railways 
were constructed in 
England and in 
America. They be- 
came really success- 
ful when George 
Stephenson, in com- 
petition with other 
inventors, made an 
improved engine, 
"the Rocket," 
which drew a load 

at the high speed The "Puffing Billy" 

of thirteen miles per hour. These applications of steam 
to water and land transportation have revolutionized 
travel, expanded commerce, and united distant territories 
and peoples. 

Effects of Economic Changes 
193. Economic Changes Connected with the Industrial Shifting of 
Revolution. — These changes which we have considered to northern 
affected England in many ways. They caused an entire England. 
shifting of the population of the country. Whereas 
before 1750 the most populous counties had been found 
in the southeast, or in the south central part of England, 
within the following half century or century the center 




238 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 





EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC CHANGES 239 

of population outside of London shifted to the northern 
counties. These northern counties had numerous fairly- 
swift rivers, and they contained or were near the best 
English deposits of iron and coal. 1 

Not only did these industrial changes cause a shift- Evolution 
ing of the population of England toward the north, but fo^L. 
they also led to the concentration of the population in system. 
villages and towns. It was cheaper to have the buildings 
where the carders worked near those in which the spin- 
ners were employed or weavers tended their looms. Later, 
some capitalists erected large factories in which there were 
thousands of spindles or a large number of power looms. 
Still later they brought under a single roof all or practi- 
cally all of the different processes by which the raw wool 
or cotton was transformed into finished cloth. Because 
of this the factory system with its huge buildings, noisy 
machines, and large output became the necessary result 
of the Industrial Revolution. 

194. Effect on Prices and Home Industry. — It Great 
stands to reason that, if a boy or girl could manage y eductlon 

, . , J ° in the price 

machines on which several hundred spindles were turn- of textiles 
ing, yarn should be very much cheaper than it had been and other 
in the days when a woman gave her entire attention 
to a single old-fashioned spinning wheel. Possibly the 
most important economic result of the Industrial Revo- 
lution was the very great decrease in the price of articles 
now manufactured by machinery. Unfortunately we 
cannot say the same thing of the price of farm products, 
because, although new and better methods were used, 

1 The climate of many northern cities is particularly adapted to the 
manufacture of cotton, which can be woven best in a moist atmosphere, 
and they introduced the new inventions earlier than others. Of English 
cities to-day which have more than 250, 0Q0 inhabitants, practically all 
except London and Liverpool are located in the industrial district of north 
central England. Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds are the three 
most important of these cities. 



240 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



the common people paid as much for wheat and many 
vegetables as before. 1 

The economic revolution not only destroyed the open- 
field system and caused a shifting of population from 
country to factory towns, but it also destroyed home 
industry. After 1820 it was impractical for any farmer 
to spend half his time weaving, because he could not 
compete with the new power looms. Long before that 
time the spinning wheel of the ordinary farmer's home 
had been relegated to the attic or the woodshed. Even 
if " home-spun " was made for members of the family, 
it was no longer profitable to spin yarn by hand for the 
market. These changes meant that a farmer who before 
had supplemented his income from the soil by the sales 
of yarn or homespun cloth was now deprived of that 
extra income. It meant further that the weaver who 
had been able to weave a few hours and work in his 
garden the rest of the time must now devote himself 
exclusively to agriculture or to standing ten or twelve 
hours at a stretch before a power loom. 

195. Effects of the Factory System. — The factory 
system made England rich and made textiles cheap ; 
but it took heavy toll of human lives. In the early days 
of the factories and the factory towns, conditions were 
almost indescribably bad. The factory itself was a hot, 
damp, dirty, unventilated place, in which the workers 
spent long hours of almost unremitting toil. If most of 
the workers had been men, this would have been endur- 

1 There are two reasons why the prices of agricultural products were 
kept up. The first was the corn laws which prohibited the importation 
of grain or permitted it only when prices of wheat, barley, and oats were 
excessively high in England. The second reason was the fact that the 
landed aristocracy controlled most of the farm land in England. Con- 
sequently, in order to freeze out the small tenant, they raised rents to a 
point several times as high as they had been a century earlier. It was 
possible to ask these high rents because the new agriculture had made the 
farms more productive. 



EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC CHANGES 241 

able ; but, as the machines were improved and simplified, 
most of the processes were performed not by men but by 
women and children. In some cases, before the govern- 
ment interfered, women and even children were compelled 
to work fifteen, sixteen, and even eighteen hours a day. 
Since the workers were rapidly exhausted by these ter- 
rible strains, it was constantly necessary to secure more 
labor. Overseers of the poor sold to grasping factory 
owners the services and, in fact, the bodies of the chil- 
dren who were in their charge. Nominally these children 
became apprentices of the capitalists ; actually they were 
slaves. 1 

Possibly it did not matter much to boys or girls or Conditions 
women who worked at least fifteen hours a day in what ^ > ^^ ory 
kind of home they lived or in what kind of quarters they 
slept, yet the living conditions of these first factory 
workers were, if anything, less satisfactory than the con- 
ditions in the factory itself. The first shacks or sheds 
erected in the factory towns were filthy and unfitted for 
human habitation. As the factory towns grew into good- 
sized communities, tenements replaced the shacks. In 
the dark, dirty rooms of these buildings the child tried 
to recuperate with four or five hours' sleep before a new 
day of heavy toil ; he was fortunate if he was not one of 
the " submerged tenth " who lived in a cellar. 

Influence of the Economic Revolution on England 
as a Wokld Power 

196. Degree of Industrial Development. — Ever since 
the time when the English vessels defeated the great 

1 Until a law was passed by Parliament in 1802 (§ 342) limiting the 
hours of the apprentices from these workhouses to twelve or fourteen a 
day, nothing had been done to help the little children, some of whom 
were as young as four or five years. Even this law was for the benefit 
only of workhouse apprentices. The children from homes were not 
protected at all by the law. 
R 



242 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



England's 
naval and 
maritime 
develop- 
ment before 
1763. 



Causes of 
rapid de- 
velopment 
after 1763. 



Develop- 
ment of 
cotton 
industry- 
measured 
by cotton 
imported. 



Armada of Spain in 1588, 1 the English sea power had 
been growing. By the Treaty of Utrecht (§§ 59, 84) 
England gained commercial advantages which enabled 
her to expand her trade with other countries. The 
Seven Years' War, destroying, as it did, the French 
colonial empire in North America and in India (§§ 86- 
87), marks the beginning of English supremacy as the 
first world power on the sea. From that time her navy 
was supreme, as it gained many victories and seldom was 
defeated. In truth, Britannia ruled the wave. Her 
trade also expanded more rapidly than before. 

The development of England's foreign commerce after 
the Seven Years' War was due not only to her naval 
supremacy and to her numerous colonies, but also to the 
economic revolution. The transformation of agriculture 
enabled England to produce a better supply of food for 
her people than formerly. The new inventions gave 
England an abundance of cloth with which to supply the 
world, and they also enabled her to undersell other cloth- 
makers, who were still spinning and weaving by old, slow, 
expensive methods. 2 

The development of the cotton industry may be illus- 
trated by a few figures. In 1770 Great Britain imported 
annually only four million pounds of raw cotton. Fif- 
teen years later nearly five times as much was brought 
to the country. By 1840 the imports of raw cotton 
reached nearly a million bales a year. Imports of wool, 
which in 1810 were but a million pounds annually, in- 
creased 25-fold in the next sixty years. 

We must not imagine that England's development in 
these years was confined to the textile industry. We 
have already mentioned the changes in the coal and iron 






1 E. E. c, § 699. 

J Until 1825 the government of Great Britain forbade the exportation 
of machines or plans of machines. 



ENGLAND AS A WORLD POWER 243 

industries. In 1740 England imported more than half of Comparison 
the 40,000 tons of iron which she used annually, but in °/ £ r °^ c " 
1788 she produced 61,000 tons, and, before the Reform exports of 
Act of 1832 was passed, her annual production of iron m>n * 
and steel was more than a million tons, some of which 
was exported. 

197. Military Advantages of the New Wealth. — Even Military 
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when Eng- of^henew 8 
land was rated as a third, or at best a second-class power, wealth, 
she was in a sense wealthier than her continental neigh- ^lth 
bors because she did not waste her wealth and resources instead of 
in continuous and costly warfare. In the earlier wars of Eur OP g^ n 
the^eighteenth century England was able to give large wars, 
subsidies to her continental allies. With the expansion 

of her industries naturally she produced far more wealth 
than formerly and was in a position to control the mar- 
kets of the world, and to win a great war (that with 
Napoleon) because of her revenues. Money has wisely 
been called the chief of the sinews of war, since more 
wars have been lost through lack of revenue than through 
lack of men. 

During the great Napoleonic wars, the English spent a Victories 
sum in excess of five billions of dollars, a sum that seems vast^xpen- 
small in comparison with the expenditures in the Great dituresin 
War (§ 452), but which was probably one third of the ^th ^* 
total wealth of the country at that time. It would have Napoleon, 
been impossible for the English government to raise and 
expend these immense sums had her wealth not been 
growing by leaps and bounds. Any other nation of that 
day would have been bankrupted. 

198. Commercial and Maritime Expansion. — As a Needs of 
very small part of the cloth and other goods made by £e^ mar ~ 
machinery in England was used in that country, she especially 
sought new markets on the Continent and in America. before 1816, 
It will be remembered that Napoleon's famous continen- 



244 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Commercial 
policy after 
1815. 



Importance 
of the 
economic 
revolution 
to Great 
Britain. 



tal system (§§ 151-153) was an attempt on his part to 
keep England out of the markets of Europe. He hoped 
in that way to hamper her trade greatly and thus 
compel her to make peace. Napoleon failed to keep 
the countries of Europe from purchasing British-made 
goods, and in several cases countries which had been 
neutral or favorable to Napoleon opposed him in order 
that they might import goods from England at a lower 
cost than they could secure them in any other way. 

After Waterloo many continental countries revived 
their systems of tariffs and thus excluded many English- 
made goods or limited the market for these goods. The 
United States tried by protective tariffs x to limit impor- 
tations of manufactured articles from Great Britain, 
without great success. England's desire to keep and 
develop trade with Spanish-American countries led her 
to protest against the plans of the Holy Alliance to re- 
conquer those colonies (§ 175). 

This brief survey gives us some idea of the economic 
expansion of England caused by the economic revolution . 
We can see that England's naval supremacy, her colonial 
expansion, and the growth of commerce which was due 
to that revolution made her the first power in the world. 
In fact, the more we study history, the more we realize 
that world power is built upon solid business development 
more than it is upon diplomacy, national prestige, mili- 
tarism, or naval supremacy. 

1 All students of American history remember that at the close of our 
War of 1812 England flooded the American market with her manu- 
factured articles. Ever since the Embargo (1807), English goods had 
been kept almost entirely out of the American market, and the surplus 
stocks of goods which had accumulated in Great Britain, coupled with the 
new continental tariffs just mentioned, made the United States England's 
best market. In spite of our own tariffs, enacted in 1816 and in later 
years, it must be admitted that we imported from England large quan- 
tities of manufactured goods in the half century between the War of 1812 
and the Civil War. 



ECONOMIC REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND 245 

General References 

Ogg, Economic Development of Modern Europe, 18-157. 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, I, 395- 
406, II, 67-99. 

Bland, Brown, and Tawney, English Economic History; 
Select Documents, 482-544. 

Cheyney, Industrial and Social History of England, 199-239. 

Gibbins, Industrial History of England, 132-181. 

Warner, Landmarks in English Industrial History, 209-227, 
262-300. 

Gibbins, The Nineteenth Century, — Economic and Industrial 
Progress, 18-39. 

Innes, England's Industrial Development, 216-254. 

Slater, The Making of Modern England, xiii-xli, 21-59. 

Prothero, English Farming, Past and Present, 148-252, 275-315. 

Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce in 
Modern Times, I, 494-540, 609-745. 

Toynbee, The Industrial Revolution, 1-73. 

Herrick, History of Commerce and Industry, 294-311. 

Topics 

Conditions before the Agrarian Revolution : Hayes, 
Political and Social History of Modern Europe, I, 395-403 ; 
Slater, The Making of Modern England, xv-xxix ; Prothero, 
English Farming, Past and Present, 148-161 ; Toynbee, The 
Industrial Revolution, 7-50 ; Bland, Brown, and Tawney, English 
Economic History; Select Documents, 482-495; Ogg, Economic 
Development of Modern Europe, 18-64. 

The Great Inventors : Cheyney, Industrial and Social 
History of England, 203-212 ; Gibbins, The Nineteenth Century — 
Economic and Industrial Progress, 18-23 ; Scherer, Cotton as a 
World Power, 59-83. 

Enclosures : Cheyney, Industrial and Social History of 
England, 216-220; Bland, Brown, and Tawney, English Eco- 
nomic History; Select Documents, 525-544; Johnson, Disap- 
pearance of the Small Landowner, 83-156 ; Prothero, English 
Farming, Past and Present, 161-167, 214-216, 249-252, 290-305. 

Studies 
1. The woolen industry in early eighteenth century. Bland, 
Brown, and Tawney, English Economic History, Select Documents, 
482-487, 492-495. 



246 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

2. The transition from home industry to the factory system. 
Hobson, The Evolution of Modern Capitalism, 54-65. 

3. The grain trade before 1750. Bland, Brown, and 
Tawney, English Economic History, Select Documents, 487-491. 

4. Some famous agriculturists. Tickner, Social and Indus- 
trial History of England, 499-509. 

5. The decay of the yeomanry. Toynbee, The Industrial 
Revolution, 34-44. 

6. The condition of the wage-earners. Toynbee, The In- 
dustrial Revolution, 45-59. 

7. Results of the agrarian revolution. Tickner, Social and 
Industrial History of England, 541-548. 

8. Some results of enclosure. Ogg, Social Progress in Con- 
temporary Europe, 74-82. 

9. The factory system and its results. Cheyney, Indus- 
trial and Social History of England, 212-213, 235-239. 

10. Coal mining. Gibbins, The Nineteenth Century — Eco- 
nomic and Industrial Progress, 24-27. 

11. Some results of the Industrial Revolution. Tickner, 
Social and Industrial History of England, 530-540. 

12. Development of cotton, wool, and iron industries (1750- 
1850). Hobson, The Evolution of Modern Capitalism, 76-89. 

Questions 

1. Describe the open-field system in use in medieval and 
early modern times. What was the nature of household industry 
in the early eighteenth century ? Name four classes that earned 
a living from the soil and describe the condition of each. 

2. To what extent had there been enclosures of land, home 
industry for general market, and shop or factory industry 
before 1750? 

3. What do you mean by the agrarian revolution? Why 
was one inevitable in the eighteenth century? Explain re- 
sults of new crops, improved methods, and enclosures of lands. 

4. Describe the process of spinning and weaving before 
1730. Name in order the inventions developed in the cotton 
industry before 1800, and show the nature of the changes brought 
about by each. 

5. Explain in a general way why Watt's steam engine was 
better than any earlier machine. What was the importance 
of its use in the iron industry? Why is it connected with the 



ECONOMIC REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND 247 

development of coal mining? In what ways was it used in 
transportation? Why were improvements in the iron industry 
connected with those in coal mining ? 

6. What were the methods of transportation before 1700? 
What improvements were made in roads; in canals and other 
waterways ? In your opinion why were there successful steam- 
boats before a steam locomotive was made practicable? 

7. Show the effect of the economic revolution in England 
upon the location of the shops, upon the development of a 
factory system, upon England's foreign trade, and upon farm 
life. 

8. Why was the economic revolution in England of the first 
importance in the development of Great Britain into a world 



CHAPTER X 



ECONOMIC REVOLUTION ON THE CONTINENT 



The Peasant and His Land 



199. The Peasant and his Land before 1789. — Before 
the French Revolution most of the peasants of France 
were practically free and " owned " their land, subject to 
tithes due to the church, small payments due to the lord 
of the estate on which the lands were located, and heavy 
land taxes, collected by the government (§ 119). The 
taxes alone sometimes amounted to half the value of the 
farm products. The agricultural land of France itself 
was divided into separate holdings, more than a hundred 
million in number, and some of them were so small that 
they contained but a single apple or plum tree. In 
eastern France most of the peasants were still serfs, and 
the total number of serfs in the kingdom was about a 
million and a half. They did not own lands but culti- 
vated the fields of their lords. 

In almost all other continental countries, serfdom was 
still common in 1789. In Austria Joseph II had abolished 
serfdom in his personal dominions (§ 109), and had decreed 
that no peasant should pay to his lord for the use of the 
peasant's lands more than seventeen per cent of any one 
year's crop. In Prussia Frederick the Great had granted 
relief to the peasants on the king's lands (§ 69), but he 
was not able to abolish serfdom on the lands of the nobles. 
Frederick did decree that there should be three grades of 
lands, one held by the nobles, another by the townsmen, 

248 



THE PEASANT AND HIS LAND 



249 



and a third by the peasants. He decreed also that no 
class should take up, by purchase or otherwise, any of the 
lands belonging to another class. In this way he pre- 




The Gleaners 

vented the nobles from obtaining the land monopoly 
that the English aristocracy was obtaining, but the 
peasants were unable to gain more land than they had. 

200. Changes in France after 1789. — On the famous Abolition 
night of the 4th of August, 1789, the national assembly f ° e f u s d e ^ d d °™; 
of France abolished serfdom in that country and decreed and 
that any villein could acquire real ownership through services - 
purchase of the lands which he and his ancestors had held. 
In 1789 and 1790 the assembly freed the peasants from 
practically all feudal dues, such as baking bread in the 
lord's oven and paying tolls on the roads, and no compen* 
sation was granted to the lords for these lost privileges. 

When it came to obtaining ownership of their lands, the 
peasants were obliged to expend a large sum, usually in 



250 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



installments over a period of twenty or twenty-five years, 
in order to get a clear title to the land which they and their 
ancestors had cultivated. They were very much dis- 
gusted when they found that they had to pay for their 
lands ; their disappointment took the form of a new 
" war on the chateaux" (§ 128). 

The church lands which had been taken over by the 
government were sold to peasant proprietors as well as 
to burghers and nobles. These new purchasers paid in 
cash only a small part of the value of this property, be- 
cause they feared that later the lands would be given 
back to the church. They were allowed to keep the lands, 
however, without additional payments. The epoch of the 
French Revolution and Napoleon therefore made France 
a land of peasant proprietors, several million in number. 

201. Changes in Germany. — In regard to the lands 
of Germany * the first fact to be noted is that in the south- 
west the holdings under cultivation were small, but the 
farther east one went toward Russia, the larger he found 
the estates to be. Secondly, the condition of the peasants 
varied from a light form of serfdom in the southwest to a 
very severe form in the northeastern provinces. In fact, 
in the eastern provinces or states the serf was greatly 
oppressed, and the law permitted the noble on the 
death of the peasant to take one half of his personal 
property. As the serf owned only personal property, 
this meant that the lord might take half that the serf 
owned ; usually, of course, he would not be so harsh. 2 

In the states subject to Napoleon, French laws were 
introduced and reforms were made similar to those in 
France. The first and most necessary reform was the 

1 In Napoleon's time Germany might be divided roughly into three 
groups : (1) those states connected with Austria, which we need not 
consider at this time ; (2) those in the Confederation of the Rhine and 
some other areas, which were dependent upon Napoleon; and (3) Prussia. 

2 Cf. with twentieth century conditions, §§ 316, 501. 






THE PEASANT AND HIS LAND 251 

abolition of serfdom. Very little, however, was done in 
these states to make the peasants owners of the lands 
which they cultivated. 

In Prussia the national spirit was aroused by Napo- Attempts to 
leon ; very soon the people demanded reforms. By 1810 p^s^ e 
serfdom had been abolished. The next year arrangements peasants, 
were made that the peasants who had cultivated feudal 
lands for their lords could gain real ownership of them. 
The peasant was required to return to the lord one third, 
or in some cases one half, of the land which he cultivated, 
and the lord was expected to give the peasant a clear title 
to the balance. In this way the peasants were made 
proprietors of their lands on the larger estates, and there- 
after they were freed from all feudal payments or obliga- 
tions in services to the lords. Nevertheless, the peasants 
of eastern Germany were not well off. They were still 
grossly ignorant, poverty-stricken, oppressed, and politi- 
cally unimportant. Their condition was to be improved 
considerably, however, by the economic revolution that 
reached Germany about the middle of the nineteenth 
century. 

202. Landholding in France. — There was no agrarian Results of 
revolution in France similar to that in England (§ 183), ^f L ^ BB ' 
but in France agriculture prospered after 1789 because prietorship. 
the peasants owned their own land and because they were 
freed from the excessive taxes and heavy feudal dues of 
the old regime. The amount of land under cultivation 
increased constantly until more than three fourths of the 
entire area of France was cultivated. In the middle of 
the nineteenth century at least one person out of every 
four in France owned a farm. As indicated above, most 
of these farms were small, for more than half of them 
contained twelve and a half acres or less. 

We should compare this state of affairs with that in 
England. In France there are nearly ten million landed 



252 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Comparison 
of England 
and France. 



Slow intro- 
duction of 
new crops 
and 
methods. 



Increased 
production 
in crops 
new and old. 



proprietors ; in England, on the contrary, practically all 
of the land is owned by thirty thousand men. In France 
there were nearly five million additional farmers and about 
five million farm laborers; in England there were but six 
hundred thousand farmers and only one million farm 
laborers. We can see from this comparison why Eng- 
land has depended to a large extent upon other countries 
for her supply of food. We* can see also why it was 
possible for France to grow food for her own people and 
in addition to export large quantities. 

203. French Agriculture. — In 1787 an English writer 
on the " new agriculture/' Arthur Young, criticized very 
severely the old-fashioned and inefficient methods of the 
French farmers. It was not until rather late in the nine- 
teenth century that the French introduced the newer 
crops and the better methods which had secured for England 
an agrarian revolution. That French agriculturists, how- 
ever, did improve their farms is shown by the fact that 
from six to ten more bushels of cereals per acre were grown 
in France in the last half of the nineteenth century than 
at the end of the eighteenth. 

The form of agriculture which shows the greatest de- 
velopment was the raising of potatoes. This useful food 
was almost unknown in France in 1789, but by 1848 the 
production had reached a total of nearly eight bushels for 
every person in the country. The wine production also 
was very much greater than it had been before, the wine 
being produced particularly in the valleys of eastern France 
and in the southwestern part of the country. Agricul- 
tural machinery was not introduced until about 1840, but 
by 1862 the government reported that there were one 
thousand threshing machines in use. 

204. Agriculture in Germany. — The new methods 
used by England before 1800 in agriculture and in 
industry only gradually found their way into Germany, 






THE PEASANT AND HIS LAND 253 

for little progress was made in Germany in either farm- Coming of 
ing or manufacture before 1850. This delay was the the * co ~ 

"* nomic revo- 

more unfortunate because about three fourths of the lution to 
German people depended entirely upon the soil for 2^ a ^ 
a living. New crops and new industries would have 
lightened the poverty and distress of a large part 
of the population, especially in central and eastern Ger- 
many. 

The soil of Germany is not so rich as that of France. 1 
During the first half of the nineteenth century, although 
few improvements were made in agriculture, a consider- Develop- 
able amount of waste land was brought under cultivation. me * t °? 

. t agriculture : 

Among the new crops which were developed during this the sugar 
period was the sugar beet, which was used for the making beet * 
of sugar. In the middle of the eighteenth century a Ger- 
man chemist discovered sugar in beets ; in 1801 another 
chemist found that it was possible to manufacture sugar 
from beets in such quantities as to make a paying indus- 
try. Little was done, however, with the growing of sugar 
beets, although throughout Central Europe, under the 
continental system of Napoleon (§ 151), sugar was derived 
largely from beets, because the importation of sugar from 
the West Indies was shut off. By 1860 the amount of 
beet sugar produced in Germany was more than one 
hundred thousand tons, about as much as the people of 
Indiana consumed in a single year before the war came 
to America. 

Industry and Commerce 

205. French Manufactures. — The industrial revolu- Belated 

tion was not begun in France until the second quarter of mtroduc - 

the nineteenth century; the French have never been economic 

noted for their inventiveness, and the importation of ^^® sin 
English machines was prohibited by British laws until 

1 E. E. C, § 460. 



254 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Concentra- 
tion of the 
French on 
articles 
requiring 
skill. 



Develop- 
ment of 
French 
textile 
manufac- 
ture. 



1825. Even after that time there was a French tariff on 
steel and machinery about equal to the original cost of 
the articles. 

Since the English were manufacturing textiles by the 
use of machines driven by steam engines, they were able 
to sell goods cheap in an extensive market. Very wisely 
the French did not attempt to compete with this trade 
in ordinary cloths; instead they devoted their well- 
known skill and taste to the production by hand of finer 
articles such as silks, lace, beautiful pottery, and tapestries. 
In this way they gave employment to a large number of 
workers in small factories or shops. 

Even before the great French Revolution the French 
had started a cotton factory, but little progress was made 

in the cotton or other 
textile industries until 
about 1825. To be 
sure, about 1800 Jac- 
quard (Jac-kar') in- 
vented a loom for the 
manufacture of fine 
pattern silks, and three 
quarters of a century 
later there were more 
than 20,000 of them 
in use in Lyons, the 
center of the silk in- 
dustry. In northeast- 
ern France consider- 
able attention was 
given, as in previous 
centuries, to the manu- 
including laces and 







Making Pattern-card for Jacquard 
Loom 



facture of fine woolens or linens 
similar articles. 

Power machines were introduced rather slowly in 



INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 255 

France, for even as late as 1830 there were only 625 Belated de- 
stationary steam engines in the whole country. This ^2 nt 
delay was due in part to the extensive hand industries power and 
which we have just considered. It was due also to the mining. 
lack of large supplies of coal and to failure to mine coal 
in quantities. As late as the middle of the nineteenth 
century there was mined in all France less than one per 
cent of the amount now produced annually in the United 
States. 

206. Transportation. Commerce to 1815. — Railways French 
developed more slowly in France than in England and ^ ailwa y^- 
the United States and even later than in Germany, ways, 
That they were not constructed sooner was due to France's canals ' and 

v. . . . . roads. 

fine system of navigable rivers, her numerous artificial 
canals, and her extensive highways. Although there were 
only 12,000 miles of railroad at the time of the Franco- 
Prussian War, there were at the same time nearly 4,000 
miles of navigable rivers, and the mileage of artificial 
canals was three fourths that of the rivers. Whereas, in 
1789, the roads of France, the best in Europe of that day, 
included a total length of little more than 27,000 miles, 
or only about double the length of the Roman roads in 
France in the time of the early Roman Empire, 1 at the 
establishment of the Third French Republic in 1870 
there was nearly ten times that mileage in roads and 
highways. 

We recall that in the eighteenth century the French Growth of 
were intense and rather successful commercial rivals ^l 1 *?* 

commerce 

of the English (§ 83) ; for French commerce in the eigh- to 1792. 
teenth century increased more rapidly than that of the during^he 
British Isles, although somewhat smaller in volume at Napoleonic 
the beginning and the end of the century. The French wars * 
Revolution, followed as it was by general European wars 
lasting for more than a score of years, interfered greatly 

*E. E. C, § 383. 



256 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



France 
under the 
Restoration 
(1815- 
1830). 



Contrast 
between the 
Orleanist 
and Bona- 
partist rule. 



with the foreign commerce of France. In the year that 
Napoleon was made first consul (§ 145) the foreign trade 
of the country was only one third what it had been in 
the last year before the war with Great Britain ; nor had 
it grown at all by the time Napoleon was finally over- 
thrown by his enemies. 

207. Expansion of French Commerce. — When the 
Bourbon kings were restored to the French throne in 
18 14, 1 they did little for the economic development of 
France, because in spite of their protective tariffs they did 
not help industry, 2 and did not give proper encouragement 
to commerce. 

The July monarchy (1830-1848, § 217) was supposed 
to be distinctively a business or bourgeoisie government. 
It did attempt to aid the commercial classes, but its poli- 
cies were neither broad nor far-sighted. To be sure the 
industrial revolution occurred during this period and 
gave great impetus to French manufactures. Commerce 
also developed to some extent. Yet under the Second 
Empire, that of Napoleon III (1852-1870), which did not 
pose as a business government, far more progress was 
made in both industry and commerce than at any pre- 
vious time. During those years it looked as though 






1 The Bourbons certainly had not learned means by which commerce 
might be promoted. Naturally, when the foreign wars were over, French 
merchants should have regained almost at once most of the trade that they 
had lost in the previous decades. As a matter of fact French commerce 
was less extensive at the time the Bourbons were again overthrown (the 
July Revolution, 1830, § 216) than it was before the general European 
wars. 

2 The wheat growers of the country possibly owed the Bourbons a 
debt because very heavy duties were placed upon imports of grain, follow- 
ing the example of the English tariff ( § 330) . The English corn laws 
worked a great hardship, because England needed large importations 
of wheat, and were therefore repealed in 1846 ; on the other hand, in 
France, a distinctively agricultural country which raised practically 
its whole supply of food, the similar French laws might be considered 
a benefit. 



INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 257 

France might again become the rival of Great Britain in 
the foreign markets of the world. This, however, she did 
not do. 

208. Commercial Condition of Germany before 1840. Numerous 
— As we noted in Chapter VIII, Germany at the begin- J^ms inGer- 
ning of the nineteenth century was a loosely organized many in 
feudal state made up of several hundred principalities 
and more than one thousand other distinct areas. Each 
of these had its own tariffs and collected customs or 
tolls at its boundaries. Since some were made up of 
scattered districts, entirely separated from one another 
by intervening states, they had many external tariffs be- 
sides numerous internal toll systems, which had survived 
from medieval times. In Prussia, for example, there were 
sixty different tariffs. 

When Napoleon simplified the German system, and the Commercial 
German Confederation was organized in 1815 with thirty- y nity f TO t w ~ 

. . . nig out of . 

eight component states or cities (later thirty-nine), the Napoleon's 
possibilities of commerce within Germany and with for- changes and 

. . . the Prussian 

eign countries were improved remarkably. Even yet, Zolherein. 
however, the conditions were worse than in the United 
States before the adoption of our present Constitution in 
1787. Our situation was somewhat similar, for the states 
were continually having tariff wars and commercial 
troubles. 1 Prussia's territories were more scattered than 
those of any other German state. In 1818 she not only 
adopted a uniform and rather liberal tariff for all her 
possessions, but she also began her epoch-making policy 
of uniting all northern Germany into a single commercial 
union {ZolVver-ein), with a single tariff system. 

The chief advantage of the Zollverein was not economic Removal of 
but political, 'and we shall study it chiefly in connection ^ internal 
with the achieving of German unity (§ 241). The customs commerce 
union, however, made it possible to carry goods from one before 1840> 

1 Ashley, American History, § 184. 
s 



258 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Agrarian 
and indus- 
trial condi- 
tions before 
1840. 



The indus- 
trial revolu- 
tion at its 
best comes 
to 
Germany. 



end of north Germany to the other without paying any 
tariffs. It was also possible by 1840 to transport articles 
down the great rivers of Germany without paying the 
numerous tolls which had been collected from boatmen 
before 1815. 1 

209. Development of German Industry and of Com- 
merce. — Before 1840 Germany was in much the condi- 
tion in which England was before the Industrial Revolu- 
tion (§§ 178-182). Her people were tenant farmers, 
frequently cultivating lands in common, and using anti- 
quated methods, without knowledge of new crops or proc- 
esses. Household industry was common as it had been in 
England in the early eighteenth century and has been in 
eastern Europe until recent years. The gilds were more 
prosperous in Germany at this time than they had been 
in England since the reign of Elizabeth or in France in 
1789. 

Although the Germans were rather conservative about 
changing from old methods to new, about the middle of 
the nineteenth century they were aroused to the need of 
radical improvements. It is true that when the industrial 
revolution came to Germany it was introduced almost 
bodily from Great Britain. The Germans did not copy 
the English methods and business organization of the late 
eighteenth century, but they went to England and studied 

1 As Germany was still a distinctly agricultural country and as the 
industrial revolution had made little headway before 1840, it is probable 
that the Zollverein did not increase greatly the foreign trade of the coun- 
try. In other words, eastern Germany continued, as it did almost to the 
opening of the Great War, to import grains and meats from its eastern 
or northern neighbors. Western Germany also brought in dairy products 
from its near neighbors and grains from more distant countries instead 
of carrying these commodities from one part of the country to another. 
This peculiar condition arose from the fact that most of the German 
rivers flow to the northwest and before 1840 roads were few and poor, and 
railroads were practically unknown, so that frequently it was easier for 
Germans to do business with people outside Germany than with their 
own countrymen (compare § 287). 






INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 259 

the most progressive factories, bought the most modern 
machinery, and themselves made use of the most up-to- 
date methods. Of course this was not true of all Ger- 
many, but wherever the factory system gained a real foot- 
hold, we find it copied bodily from the best British models. 

Because of German interest in chemistry, more prog- German 
ress was made in industries which involved dyes, pattern- ™ anufac - 
making, or chemical processes than in most other lines middle of 
of manufacture. In the Rhine valley, in Saxony, and to ^®*® enth 
some extent in southern Germany, factories were intro- 
duced and technical schools were started. As the Ger- 
mans began to make articles for themselves, they naturally 
ceased to import manufactured commodities, and they 
began to bring in more raw materials, which they them- 
selves turned into completed products. During this 
period, however, German commerce developed more 
slowly than that of either Great Britain or France. 

Social Progkess on the Continent 

210. Individual Freedom and Enterprise. — For the Exemption 
ordinary worker the years between the opening of the vidualfrom 
French Revolution in 1789 and the Revolutions of 1848 old obliga- 
were a time of steady progress. In 1789 serfdom was tlons ' 
the rule; in 1850 there was practically no serfdom in 
western or central Europe. By the middle of the nine- 
teenth century feudal dues had been lightened or abolished. 
No longer could the nobles ride at will over the peasants' 
fields, nor were the farmers' crops destroyed by doves and 
hares, sacred to the lords and their hunting parties. The 
peasant had his own time for his own work, and he often 
owned his lands, especially in France. Sometimes his 
holdings consisted of compact farms rather than separated 
strips. 

Before 1789 it had been difficult for any worker to 
choose his own life occupation, for serfdom was heredi- 



260 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



tary. If a man's father had been a day laborer, he was a 
day laborer. No artisan was allowed to open a shop as 
" master " unless he had served as apprentice and journey- 
man and later had been accepted as a master and ad- 
mitted to a gild. Gild members, moreover, could not 
branch out in related lines of industry, for the gild did not 
permit its members to introduce new methods or inven- 
tions, and it refused to allow a master in any other gild 
to infringe on any of its rights (§ 12). By 1850 much had 
been done to give any worker who had skill or capital 
the right to better his condition in any way that he could. 
Although a youth still served an apprenticeship, neither 
law or custom kept him from opening a shop or manu- 
facturing any article after he had served his time. 

211. Wages of Laborers. — On the Continent the over- 
throw of the old regime gave the worker a higher stand- 
ard of living than he had enjoyed before. The lord no 
longer took the larger share of the fruits of his labors. 
The government no longer depended chiefly on him for 
taxes. Being relieved from these burdens and from 
feudal dues, he was able to enjoy most of what he pro- 
duced. The economic revolution of the nineteenth century 
raised his standard still higher. The farmer raised more 
bushels of grain and potatoes to the acre. The artisan 
on his machines turned out a larger number of yards of 
cloth or a greater quantity of iron products. Each was 
beginning to get more for his time and his labors. 

Since most men worked for others, we are interested 
in the question of wages in this period. Wages were 
higher in England than they were on the Continent ; they 
were ' higher in France than they were in surrounding 
countries. That condition existed because England had 
made more progress industrially than France ; and be- 
cause France had developed more than her neighbors. 
In general it might be said that wages were at least sixty 



SOCIAL PROGRESS ON CONTINENT 261 

per cent higher in 1850 than they had been sixty years 
earlier. For example, an English laborer earned twenty- 
five cents a day in 1790 ; in 1850 a similar laborer re- 
ceived forty cents. In 1825 a French weaver earned only 
three dollars a week; in 1880 his weekly wage was six 
dollars. In short, we find that wages have been rising 
steadily on the continent of Europe during the last cen- 
tury and a quarter. 

212. Standards of Living. — It is not the wages in Comparison 
dollars and cents that counts ; rather it is the amount of ° tan dards aD 
comforts which that money will buy that is important. 
These wages just mentioned seem wretchedly small, and 
they were inadequate, yet we must consider that most 
commodities were sold much cheaper in Europe in 1914 
than they were in America. In 1800 and in 1850 they 
were still cheaper. Our object at this time, however, is 
not to compare the standards of living in America to-day 
with those on the continent of Europe a century ago, 
but to compare the European standards in 1789 and in ■ 
1850. 

Most working people spend from two thirds to three Poorhous- 
fourths of their income for food and shelter. We can l? g co . ndl ~ 

tions in the 

therefore learn something about their standards of living early nine- 
if we know how they lived and what they ate. Since tee ^ th 
many workers went from the country to the manufac- 
turing towns, we must not expect them to be better 
housed than they were before. In the country, houses 
were undoubtedly better than they had been, but the 
French and German cities of the early nineteenth cen- 
tury were crowded and unhealthy. The streets were 
narrow, the tenements were unattractive, and the rooms 
were dark and gloomy. As the governments had taxes 
on doors and windows, and sometimes on chimneys, land- 
lords had as few of these " luxuries " as possible. Condi- 
tions in the towns may not have been worse than they 



262 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

were in the eighteenth century, but more people suffered 
the discomforts of town life. 

Aside from housing conditions, the town worker was 
probably better off than his eighteenth century predecessor. 
He had more money to spend, and prices were little if 
any higher than they had been. In France, for example, 
the people ate less rye bread than formerly; for much 
more wheat was produced in 1850 than in 1789, although 
some wheat was exported. The greatest change was in 
the consumption of meat. Whereas the per capita con- 
sumption of meat (in France) had been 39 pounds a year, 
it rose to 63 pounds. What is true of meat was true of 
other desirable or nutritious foods, and of clothing. 
In brief the standard of living had risen at least fifty per 
cent in the years between the two great political revo- 
lutions of 1789 and 1848. 

213. Legislation for Workers. — The condition of 
workers on the Continent both before and after the begin- 
nings of the factory system was somewhat similar to 
those in England (§§ 181, 341). Since factories were 
introduced and mining on an extensive scale was developed 
later in France and Germany than in England, legislation 
for the benefit of workers almost of necessity came later 
on the Continent than in the British Isles. The first 
laws passed for the protection of workers were those en- 
acted by the British parliament in 1788 (§ 340) for youth- 
ful chimney sweeps and the much better known law of 
1802 for the protection of child apprentices in factories 
(§ 340). 

Almost thirty years before any English law had been 
made on that subject (§ 341), children in France were 
prohibited (1813) from working in mines, although these 
early laws were not well enforced in either country. In- 
fluenced by the British laws for the protection of children 
and women workers in factories, the French government 



SOCIAL PROGRESS ON CONTINENT 263 

later declared that no child under the age of eight years 
should be thus employed. 1 

That the years about 1840 witnessed a considerable Prussian 
interest in the subject of labor legislation is shown, not lj J b( £ la ^ 
only by English laws of this period and the French law nineteenth 
just mentioned, but by a Prussian law of 1839. 2 Some centur y- 
years later the minimum age of Prussian child workers was 
raised to twelve years, which was the ordinary age limit 
prescribed by our American state laws only a few years 
ago, and is still the regular age limit in Europe (§ 494). 

214. Discontent and Organization of Labor. — There European 
were associations of gild workmen even as early as the law . s a s a ' nst 

° J unions of 

Renaissance. These associations continued in France workers. 
and particularly in Germany into the nineteenth century, 
but they were ordinarily groups of the old type of work- 
men ; they had nothing to do with the new industry. 
Everywhere in Europe workmen were forbidden to meet 
or to organize in order to improve their condition. Under 
the reactionary governments of continental Europe after 
1815 (§§ 172-174), associations or gatherings of any kind 
which might disturb the public peace or order were dis- 
trusted and therefore were prohibited. Although labor 
unions were legalized in England almost unintentionally, 
about 1825 (§ 481), they did not exist in France until a 
somewhat later period nor in Germany until after the 

1 Those from eight to twelve were allowed to work not more than eight 
hours a day and should attend school part of the time. Those from 
twelve to sixteen should not be employed more than twelve hours per 
day. There were local inspectors in each French district, but the inspec- 
tion was even more unsatisfactory than in England. 

2 This law declared that no children under nine years of age should work 
for wages, and that those under sixteen should be employed not more 
than ten hours a day, night work being prohibited. The Prussian law 
went much farther than either the English or the French laws in providing 
for school attendance, since it declared that all employed children should 
spend five hours a day in the school room, a provision which, of course, 
could not be carried out. 



264 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



middle of the nineteenth century. They were, of course, 
prohibited under the older laws. 

On the Continent, even more than in England, the 
industrial revolution caused the displacement of labor. 
Since the change came later on the Continent than in the 
British Isles, and since the transition from the old methods 
to the new was more abrupt, the hardships suffered by 
continental workers, especially skilled workers of the old 
type, were very great. These workers were not only 
thrown out of employment by the introduction of ma- 
chines, which turned out goods much faster than they 
had been able to make them, but they were either too 
proud or too old to adapt themselves to work of the new 
type. In many communities the same thing happened 
as in England a few years earlier (§ 331), that is, work- 
ingmen broke up the new machines and to some extent 
interfered with persons who tried to operate them. In 
France, before the Revolutions of 1848 (§ 218), there 
was a very large number of unemployed men, especially 
in the cities. There was discontent among unemployed 
persons, and also among those who were made restless 
by the change from the old industrial order to the new. 

General References 

Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, 100-124. 

Gibbins, The Nineteenth Century — Economic and Industrial 
Progress, 187-239. 

Ogg, Economic Development of Modern Europe, 187-235. 

Dawson, The Evolution of Modern Germany. 

Wergeland, History of the Working Classes in France. 

Levasseur, Histoire des classes ouvrieres (Avant 1789, II, 881- 
982; de 1789 a 1870, II, 795-906). 



Topics 

The French Peasant and His Land : Lowell, The Eve of 
the French Revolution, 186-191, 199-206; Ogg, Economic Develop- 



ECONOMIC REVOLUTION ON CONTINENT 265 

ment of Modern Europe, 187-192 ; Gibbins, The Nineteenth Cen- 
tury — Economic and Industrial Progress, 187-193. 

French Commerce : Day, A History of Commerce, 409-413; 
Gibbins, The Nineteenth Century — Economic and Industrial Prog- 
ress, 204-211 ; Ogg, Economic Development of Modern Europe, 
280-288. 

Studies 

1. Gilds and workers in France before 1789. Wergeland, 
History of the Working Classes in France, 106-109, 123-136. 

2. Economic and social conditions in France before 1789. 
Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution, 359-376. 

3. French manufactures before 1789. Yeats, Growth and 
Vicissitudes of Commerce, 231-236. 

4. The peasant in Prussia before 1800. Ogg, Economic De- 
velopment of Modern Europe, 200-205. 

5. The beet sugar industry in Germany before 1850. Gib- 
bins, The Nineteenth Century — Economic and Industrial Progress, 
223-226. 

6. Textile manufactures in Germany. Gibbins, The Nine- 
teenth Century — Economic and Industrial Progress, 231—234. 

7. Industrial changes in Germany in the nineteenth century. 
Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany, 37-46. 

Questions 

1. Describe the conditions of landholding in France and 
in central Europe before 1789. Explain what changes occurred 
after that date in regard to the holding of land in France and 
in Prussia. Compare landholding in France and in England 
in the late nineteenth century. 

2. Compare agricultural methods and development in France 
and in Germany before 1800 with those used in either country 
in the nineteenth century. 

3. Account for the fact that the industrial revolution 
in France was nearly a half century later than in England. 
Why did the French devote their attention particularly to 
articles requiring skill and taste ? 

4. Account for the excellent roads and artificial water- 
ways to be found in France. If French commerce had expanded 
so rapidly in the eighteenth century, why did it not continue 
to develop as rapidly in the nineteenth ? 



266 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

5. Show the effect upon German industry and commerce of 
German disunity and the undeveloped political conditions in 
that country. What was the character of the industrial revo- 
lution which was finally introduced into Germany? 

6. To what extent was there individual freedom and enter- 
prise in central and eastern Europe before 1789? in 1850? 
How did the wages of laborers and their standard of living 
under the old regime compare with those of the mid-nineteenth 
century ? 

7. Describe the legislation for workers in France and 
Prussia before 1850. (Compare with similar laws in America 
at the beginning of the twentieth century; with American 
labor legislation to-day.) Account for the fact that associa- 
tions of laborers were forbidden in England and on the Conti- 
nent until the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Show 
the connection between unemployment and discontent of labor- 
ers on the Continent with the Revolutions of 1848 which are 
discussed in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER XI 
POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS (1830-1849) 

France (1815-1848) 

215. France after the Restoration (1814-1830). — Extreme 
It has been said of the Bourbons who were restored to the ^ ctl J nMt - 
throne of France in 1814 that they learned nothing and Charles X 
forgot nothing. 1 Louis XVIII was liberal at first, but ( 1824 " 1830 ) 
changed gradually, especially after the murder of his 
nephew, the Duke of Berry, in 1820, that first of the 
three years of revolution, 2 1820, 1830, 1848. Then he 
fell under the influence of the extreme reactionaries, led 
by his brother, who became king in 1824 with the title of 
Charles X. Charles X's rule was at all times severe and 
reactionary. By 1829 it had become very objectionable and 
had aroused the opposition of most classes of the people. 3 

1 France was ruled after 1814 as follows : 
Louis XVIII (1814-1824) Second French Republic (1848-1852) 

Charles X (1824-1830) Napoleon III (1852-1870) 

Louis Philippe (1830-1848) Third French Republic (1870- ) 

* Of the years especially prominent for revolutions, of course the last 
(1848) was by far the most important. In 1820 revolutions occurred in 
Spain, in Portugal, and in Italy. In 1820 an insurrection was begun 
against the arbitrary rule of the restored Spanish King Ferdinand. This 
revolution spread to other provinces of the Spanish peninsula, and the 
king was forced to restore the constitution of 1812 and call a meeting of 
the national parliament. Two years later a French army, with the ap- 
proval of the Congress of Verona, suppressed the liberal government in 
Spain (§ 174). In Portugal also there was a revolution at this time. 

The people of Italy were misruled and discontented (§ 228).. In 1820 
the Neapolitans also rose against the rule of their king, named Ferdinand 
(§ 174). 

3 In the French parliament the king was able to control only a small 
minority of the votes. Since Charles was not able to secure the enact- 

267 



268 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The July 
Days. 



The July 
ordinances. 



When the elections of a new French parliament gave 
unfavorable results, Charles, on July 26, 1830, issued 
ordinances which reestablished censorship of the press, 
provided for a much higher qualification for voters, and 
called a new election for parliament, although the re- 
cently chosen members had never met. 

216. The July Revolution in France (1830). — Im- 
mediately the newspaper men whose rights were at- 
tacked led the opposition to Charles. The people of 




The Hotel de Ville, Paris 

Paris, already organized under military leaders, rushed 
upon the city hall (Hotel de Ville) and captured it. 
When the king's forces finally entered Paris, the Parisians 
threw up barricades in the narrow streets and kept them 
from regaining control of the city. With the Paris mob 
voicing the cry " no more Bourbons," Charles X was 
obliged to abdicate in favor of his little grandson, the 
Count of Cham-bord' (§ 258), and was forced to leave 
France. 

ment of laws which he desired, in 1830 he emulated the bad example of 
James II of England. He suspended laws and practically if not legally 
declared himself above the constitution. 



FRANCE (1815-1848) 269 

The revolutionists were united only in their desire to Louis 
overthrow the late king. The Parisians, who had their ^ceptedas 
headquarters at the Hotel de Ville, wanted a republic, the French 
The newspaper men and Orleanists demanded Louis ^^ 
Phil-ippe', a cousin of the late king. The Republicans 
were not ready to carry out their plans at once ; hence 
Louis Philippe boldly marched, practically unattended, 




A Street Barricade 

to their headquarters, and he and his followers won the 
day. Later he and Lafayette appeared upon the balcony 
of the Hotel de Ville ; the mob wildly applauded as 
Lafayette embraced him and he waved the tricolor, the 
republican flag of France, publicly displayed for the first 
time in fifteen years. He ruled France until 1848. x 

1 The "citizen king" was a plain man who had called himself citizen 
at the time of the Revolution and had been a member of the revolutionary 
army. With his green umbrella he was seen almost daily in the Paris 



270 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Revolutions 
outside of 
France. 



Contrast 
between 
growth of 
liberalism 
in France 
and arbi- 
trariness of 
the gov- 
ernment. 



The year 1830 was a period of reform, radical change, 
and revolution to an even greater extent than the year 
1820. 1 Besides the July Revolution in France two others 
were of considerable interest in Europe. These were 
the revolution in Belgium which made Belgium inde- 
pendent of Holland (§ 283), and the revolution in Poland 
which caused that kingdom to lose its independence 
(§ 312). Russia and Prussia wanted to intervene in 
order to force Belgium to be again a part of the Dutch 
Netherlands, but as France and England objected and as 
the Polish revolution interfered with Russian intervention, 
Belgium's independence was recognized. 

217. France Before the Revolution of 1848. — The 
government of Louis Philippe, like that of the Bourbons 
which it replaced, was at first liberal ; as time passed it 
grew more despotic, though the people were becoming 
steadily more liberal. In the years immediately preceding 
1848 Louis Philippe's rule therefore grew more and more 
unpopular. The Republicans had always opposed the 
Orleanist monarchy, and most of the monarchists were 



streets without a guard, talking familiarly with workmen. In a demo- 
cratic manner he sent his sons to a public school. Among the higher 
classes of the French, however, he was sneeringly referred to as "the 
king of the barricades." Notwithstanding his democratic ways at home, 
he was exceedingly ambitious to be recognized by other European mon- 
archs as their equal. It was his misfortune to be snubbed by the rulers 
of central and eastern Europe ; it was also his misfortune to find that 
his ambitious plans to marry his sons to foreign princesses and to increase 
the international prestige of France always went awry. In Louis Phi- 
lippe's reign France prospered ; that is more than can be said for the poli- 
cies of the "July Monarchy" or for the plans of the "citizen king." 

1 In England and elsewhere in Europe we find the spirit of reform 
dominant in the year 1830. In England it was the time of the great 
agitation for the reform of Parliament which culminated in the Reform 
Act of 1832 (§ 335) and of social reforms a few years later (§§ 343-345). 
In America this period was marked by the beginning of active agitation 
against negro slavery and by numerous social and political reforms, which 
tended to bring equality to most white men. Ashley, American His- 
tory, §§ 292, 298. 



FRANCE (1815-1848) 271 

not satisfied with it. In time the king lost the support 
of the middle classes, whom he was supposed to favor 
especially. Most of all was his rule disapproved by the 
workingmen. As we noticed above (§ 205), France had 
introduced new machines in agriculture and particularly 
in industry. Consequently many of the old workers 
had been thrown out of employment. In the cities 
factories had been established which gave irregular em- 
ployment to many thousands, but in 1848 the num- 
ber of unemployed workmen was very large. To the 
government these common workers looked in vain for 
help. Practically all of the classes opposed the rule of 
the " citizen king " and demanded reforms which Louis 
Philippe's ministers were unwilling to grant. At the 
beginning of the year 1848 conditions in France were 
critical. 

218. The Revolution of 1848 in France. — The reform Events of 
leaders met together in banquets, where they discussed 22-24^848 
necessary reforms in the government. One of the most 
important of these was planned for Washington's birth- 
day, February 22, 1848. When the government objected 
to the banquet and the street procession which was to 
precede it, the reformers agreed to yield, but a typical 
Paris mob gathered in the Place de la Concorde, demand- 
ing reform. Soon afterwards the troops who were guard- 
ing Guizot's (Gui-zo l ) residence fired into a crowd and 
killed more than a score of people. Some of the corpses 
were carried about Paris in a cart, the populace crying 
" vengeance." In rage the people threw up barricades, 
and rioting against the government occurred in many of 
the Paris streets. On February 24, Louis Philippe fol- 
lowed the example set by Charles X, and abdicated in 
favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris (§ 258). On 

1 Louis Philippe's prime minister, Guizot, had been liberal, but before 
1848 had been growing constantly more autocratic. 



272 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



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REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 273 

the same day that the Second French Republic was pro- 
claimed, he fled to England. 

Two important factions shared control of the new The 
republic, the liberals and the socialists. The liberals socialists 
established national workshops, advocated by the leading "national 
socialist, Louis Blanc, 1 but they organized them, not to workshops.'* 
carry out Blanc's ideas, but to show that Blanc's plan 
was doomed to failure. Of course there was little or 
nothing for the numerous applicants to do, but some were 
employed digging trenches which were of no special value 
to any one. They were paid at the rate of two francs a 
day, and were employed on the average two days a week. 
This employment, therefore, gave them a weekly wage 
equivalent to only about two dollars in our money 
to-day. 

219. End of the Socialist Republic. — In April an Elections 
election was held to make a constitution for the Second *?. * h f. con " 

stitutional 

French Republic. The bourgeoisie was disgusted with convention, 
a republic which had already interfered greatly with busi- 
ness, and the peasants, most of whom already owned 
land, disapproved state socialism. In Paris the Socialists 
elected but three of the twenty-four workmen who had 
been nominated for the constituent assembly. In the 
country districts they were even less successful. 

A few weeks later the " national workshops " were The "June 
closed, and the laborers were requested to return to their Da y s - 
homes. In Paris the workmen and the mob protested, 
the national guard was called in, and General Ca-vai- 
gnac"s troops fought their way through the barricaded 
streets until the insurrection was suppressed. Thousands 
were slaughtered; other thousands were transported 

1 Blanc advocated a doctrine which seems less revolutionary in our 
day than it did seventy-five years ago, namely, the right to work. One 
of the first acts of the new government was a decree approving Blanc's 
ideas that the government should provide labor for all citizens. Blanc 
himself was not allowed to put this idea into practice. 
T 



274 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



to the colonies. Some of the insurrectionists were sent 
to prison, still others were shot. Those terrible " June 
days " were remembered with heartbreak not only by 
workers but by people in general. The French Republic 
was still in existence, but it was not a republic of the 
common people. 

220. Organization of the Second French Republic. — 
The assembly now proceeded to make a new constitution. 
It decided that suffrage should be universal. It proposed 
a single legislative chamber, and a president chosen by 
popular vote for a period of four years, who could not be 
re-elected. Even at that time the people and their leaders 
were much divided in their support of the new consti- 
tution, and, after a new election, late in 1848, the assembly 
was not controlled by the republicans at all, for two 
thirds of its members were monarchists. 

The contest for the presidency of the French Republic 
was really between General Cavaignac and Louis Napo- 
leon, nephew of the great Napoleon Bonaparte. Louis 
Napoleon had been an adventurer and an unsuccessful 
adventurer at that. Twice (1836, 1840) he had started 
insurrections in France which would place him on the 
throne of that country, but both were unimportant and 
badly managed. In spite of the fact that he had never 
been successful, the name Napoleon made a tremendous 
appeal to the French people, for it meant prestige and 
military glory. He was chosen from several districts to 
the assembly; consequently, his election to the presi- 
dency was not unexpected. His popular vote was about 
four times that of his opponent. 



Revolutions of 1848 in Central Europe 

221. Central Europe in 1848. — We have already 
noted that central Europe in 1848 was ripe for revolution. 
There were two great movements of this time which made 



REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 275 

any possible revolution far more important in the history Embryo 
of the world than any previous insurrection which might ™^ onsand 
have seemed similar in character. These two may be demand for 
summarized by the words nationality and democracy. natl . on f. 1 or " 
A nation is a well-organized, united, independent group 
of people, occupying a definite territory. In 1848 in cen- 
tral Europe there were no nations. There was, however, 
a number of racial groups, each of which believed that 
it was a nation and demanded national organization. 
By far the largest and most important of these groups 
was that which we call the Germans, most of whom lived 
within the limits of the German Confederation of 1815 
(§ 165). The second largest race group which had no 
national organization was that of the Italians, which 
occupied the peninsula known in ancient history at the 
time of Julius Caesar as - Italia." 

There was, however, a large number of smaller race other races 
groups, for example, the Poles and the Bohemians or m Austrian 
Czechs, who were Slavic races that lived within the Ger- 
man Confederation. Outside the limits of the German 
Confederation, but within the dominions of the Austrian 
Habsburgs, there was the great race of Mag-yars' ', which 
we call Hungarian, occupying the central part of the 
kingdom of Hungary. South or east of the Magyar 
group was a number of other Slavic races : Serbs, Croats, 
Tran-syl-va'ni-ans, and others. Each of these races, 
animated by the spirit of the times, wanted national 
independence. 

The greatest change of this year of revolutions was the Extent of 
liberal movement, the reaction in central Europe against the llbera * 

. . movement 

the repressive rule of Mettermch. During the thirty before 1848. 
years that that able statesman had tried to control 
European affairs, the liberal or democratic movement 
had been growing. Particularly in Germany do we find 
considerable progress in the granting of freedom of speech, 



276 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



freedom of the press, and other civil rights by states, 
some of which had given their people constitutions. In 
Switzerland the liberals had won a victory over the con- 
servative government of that mountainous country. In 
Italy (§ 228), Pope Pius IX was making reforms; and 
in various parts of Europe other monarchs were granting 
concessions to their subjects. 

This movement, practically universal in its scope, 
was bringing to the people more liberties. As real con- 
stitutional progress had been halting, almost every one 
demanded much more sweeping reforms than had been 
made ; the leaders wanted radical changes, at least, con- 
stitutional government ; if possible, republics. Naturally, 
monarchs opposed these innovations, and many of them 
believed that if they granted constitutions they were not 
bound by those documents. As Frederick William IV of 
Prussia declared, " No written sheet of paper shall ever 
thrust itself like a second providence between the Lord 
God in heaven and this land." 

222. The Revolution of 1848 in Austria and Bohemia. 
— The news that France had established a republic was 
brought to Germany rather quickly, for already a few 
short railway lines had been established and telegraph 
lines had been erected. A few days later Vienna was 
aroused by a revolutionary speech of Kos'suth in the 
Hungarian parliament. 1 The Viennese students and 
populace, already enraged against the harsh rule of Metter- 
nich, rose en masse. Rioting occurred in the streets. 
An attack was made upon the palace of Metternich, which 
was burned by the mob. His life work done, this great 
statesman, the last leader of the old order, who for thirty 






1 When the news of events in Paris reached Buda-Pest, the Hungarian 
diet or parliament, which had been considering radical reforms, was 
startled by Louis Kossuth, whose eloquence in the "baptismal speech of 
the revolution" stirred not only Hungary but all central Europe. 



REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 



277 



years had been the conservative guide of Europe, resigned 
and in disguise fled to that refuge of exiled continental 
statesmen, England. 

The overthrow of Metternich influenced the Czechs National 
of Bohemia to send to Vienna leaders who asked that the demands of 

. the Czechs; 

Czech nation be separately organized. They urged that revolt and 
they should have diets annually in their different provinces restoration 

rule. 




Rathhaus, Vienna 



and should enjoy civil liberties, including freedom of 
the press and religion. They objected to German as 
the official language and wanted their education to be 
Czech rather than German. 

On June 12, 1848, the Czech militia in Prague killed Austria 
the wife of the Austrian commander, Win'disch-gratz. agam s "~ 

1 ° preme in 

The Austrians immediately withdrew, but a few days Bohemia, 

later bombarded the city, broke up the meetings of the ^J} 6 ^ 1848, 

pan-Slavic congress, i.e. the congress of all Slavic peoples Vienna, 

of Austria, and reestablished the supremacy of Austria 0ct " 1848, 



278 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The famous 

"March 

Laws" 

of Hungary. 



Slav oppo- 
sition to 
nationaliz- 
ing 
Hungary. 



Quarrels 
over 
Francis 
Joseph. 
The Hun- 
garian 
Republic. 



in Bohemia. This was in point of time the first victory 
gained by the Austrian government. A few months 
later the people in Vienna, again aroused by the Hun- 
garians, revolted. They in turn were suppressed by the 
Austrian army under Windischgratz, who regained con- 
trol of Vienna and placed it under martial law. 

223. Revolt in Hungary. — During this month of March, 
1848, famous in the world's annals for its revolutions, 
the Hungarian diet passed its famous " March Laws," 
which practically created for Hungary a new constitution. 
They voted themselves a complete ministry, absolutely 
independent of the ministry which formerly had ruled 
Austria and Hungary. Annual meetings of the parlia- 
ment were to be held. Suffrage was made almost uni- 
versal, civil liberties were granted to all, and the peasant 
no longer was to pay more than his share of the taxes. 

Not only was an attempt made to give Hungary a con- 
stitutional government, but the Magyars sought to 
nationalize or unify all Hungary. The Slavs of southern 
Hungary, who wanted separate national governments for 
themselves, not a single Magyar government that domi- 
nated them, rose against the new Hungarian government. 
Naturally the rulers of Austria welcomed this rather 
unexpected help, and later an Austrian force was sent to 
cooperate with these Slavs against the Hungarians. 

224. Hungarian Independence (1849). — The Austrian 
emperor believed that the contest could be waged more 
successfully against Hungary if he were to abdicate. In his 
place was appointed his nephew, Francis Joseph II, whose 
long rule lasted until 1916. Francis Joseph was crowned 
emperor of Austria, but the Hungarians did not accept 
him as king. 1 He in turn felt that he was under no obli- 
gation to accept and recognize the Hungarian constitu- 
tion. Open war therefore resulted between the Austrian 

1 See § 305. 



REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 



279 



and the Hungarian forces. In spite of the numerical 
superiority of the Austrians, the Hungarians were at first 
successful. Elated by their apparent victory, the Hun- 
garian diet or parliament, under the leadership of Kossuth, 
proclaimed a Hungarian republic with. Kossuth as president. 

Since the Austrians had failed to conquer the Hun- 
garians with the aid of the Slavs in Austro-Hungarian 
territory, they now appealed to Slavs outside of the 
country and asked the 
tsar of Russia to help 
them put down the 
revolution in Hungary 
(1849). The combined 
armies of Austria and 
Russia suppressed the 
Hungarian republic with- 
in a short time. Some 
of the Hungarian patri- 
ots were shot ; others 
were imprisoned or ex- 
iled ; many fled to for- 
eign countries. Kossuth 
escaped to Turkey and 
afterwards made a tour 
of the United States. 

225. Revolution in Prussia (1848). — Vienna, Buda- 
pest, and Prague were not the only centers of revolt 
in March, 1848. In many south German states, espe- 
cially Baden, constitutions were granted and numerous 
reforms were begun or promised. In Berlin occurred a 
crisis due largely to the attitude of the king, Frederick 
William IV the vacillating. The year before, Frederick 
William had granted to his subjects a Prussian diet which 
he called together for consultation, not with the inten- 
tion that it should influence him greatly. The people 



Overthrow 
of the Hun- 
garian 
Republic. 




Kossuth 



Prussian 
diet (1847). 
Unrest in 
Berlin. 



280 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



were much disappointed that this diet did not give them 
really constitutional government and bring them genuine 
reforms. 

In March, 1848, rioting occurred in the streets of 
Berlin. Although it was suppressed by the troops and 
many lives were lost, the victory was with the populace. 
In Berlin, as in Paris, corpses were carried through the 
streets to the royal palace. The Prussian king was forced 
to view these bodies, removing his hat at the demand of 
the crowd below. 

Later Frederick William placed himself at the head 
of a procession in which he waved a triumphant banner 
bearing the old colors of Germany, red, black, and yellow. 
That same evening the changeable monarch issued this 
proclamation; " I assume to-day the leadership in the 
hour of danger ; my people will not desert me, and Ger- 
many will gather around me with confidence. Prussia 
henceforth takes the lead in Germany." However, the 
king did not have the force of character to live up to 
these brave words. 

226. Failure to Form a German Empire (1848). — 
Even before the revolution broke out, there had been a 
movement for the reorganization of the German Confed- 
eration. Consequently one of the first developments in 
that momentous month of March, 1848, had been an 
effort not simply to reorganize the Confederation but to 
consolidate a new Germany. This movement took 
effect when a group of liberals called together a pre- 
parliament which in turn asked the people of Germany, 
excluding Austria, to elect by manhood suffrage one dele- 
gate for each fifty thousand people. This national 
assembly or parliament was called for the purpose of 
uniting Germany and framing a constitution for the new 
nation. 

The meetings of the national Parliament were held 



REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 



281 



in Frankfort. Instead of attending strictly to business 
and organizing a new government, while their arch-enemy, 
Austria, was in distress (§§ 222-223), the delegates 
wasted valuable time talking about a united fatherland, 
or extolling the virtues of constitutional government, 
or discussing minor questions. The constitution was 
finally completed and accepted by twenty-eight of the 
smaller states, but a strong leader was needed at once. 
Since an Austrian prince was out of the question, the 
liberals naturally turned to the king of Prussia. In spite 
of the statement which Frederick William had made, 
that he placed himself at the head of a new Germany, 
he refused to take " out of the gutter " an imperial 
crown which was offered to him by a parliament elected 
by the people ; he wished to have it granted by the Ger- 
man princes. Without a leader the parliament was 
lost, especially as the restored monarchs in Germany did 
not approve its work. When the Prussian delegates 
withdrew, the work of the parliament really came to an 
end, although for several months some members con- 
tinued to meet and discuss questions. 

227. The Humiliation of Olmiitz. — The failure of 
the Frankfort parliament to organize a new Germany 
with a constitutional government left both nationalists 
and liberals very much disappointed, since all hope of 
union seemed at an end. The next year (1849), however, 
Prussia proposed a German union under her leadership. 
This union was rejected by the kingdoms but was ac- 
cepted by twenty-eight of the still smaller principalities 
of North Germany. The union was not to include Austria, 
of course, though it provided for closer connection with 
Austria than with any other foreign country. 

Naturally Austria objected to a Germany in which she 
had no direct authority, especially a Germany organized 
by her rival, Prussia. As she insisted upon the revival 



The 

national 
Parliament 
wastes time 
and finds 
no leader. 



Prussia at- 
tempts to 
organize a 
union of 
North Ger- 
many. 



282 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



of the German Confederation under her own leadership, 
the two powers came into conflict, and war seemed inevi- 
table. Since Prussia was not properly prepared for war, 
the Prussian envoy met Prince Schwar'zen-berg at Ol'miitz 
(1850). As a result of this conference, Prussia backed 
down absolutely. She agreed to dissolve the new union 
and to withdraw her troops from Hesse, where they were 
confronted by the Austrian army, and was forced to ac- 
cept the restoration of the German Confederation. In- 
deed, if England had not protested, Austria would have 
brought her entire non-German population into an 
enlarged German Confederation. Thus was the humilia- 
tion of Prussia made complete. 

Italy (1830-1849) 

228. Conditions in Italy before 1848. — In Italy 
there were discontent, secret organizations, intrigues, 
and revolution. Before 1848 there was little unity, for, 
as Metternich said, Italy was simply a geographical 
expression. Because Austria's influence was supreme 
throughout the peninsula, the Italians were obliged to 
organize secret revolutionary societies. One of the 
earliest and the largest of these was a purely destructive 
organization, the Car-bo-na'ri, which it was estimated in 
1820 included one out of every twenty-five persons in the 
kingdom of Naples, and which sought the overthrow of 
established governments. The most active revolutions 
occurred in Naples and Sardinia in 1820 and in the Papal 
States in 1830. 

A scholarly, rather visionary, yet practical leader, 
named Joseph Mazzini (Mat-si 'ni) saw that the work of 
the reformers must not be simply destructive as was 
that of the Carbonari. There must be something to take 
the place of the governments which were overthrown. 
Not only did Mazzini therefore preach a united Italy 



ITALY (1830-1849) 



283 




Mazzini 



and work for the establishment of a republic for the 
whole peninsula, but to accomplish this object he organ- 
ized secret societies called Young Italy. Before 1848 
scholars and leaders were teaching throughout the penin- 
sula a doctrine which 
they called ris-or-gi- 
men'to, the " resurrec- 
tion " of Italy; and 
people everywhere 
took up the idea that 
once more there should 
be a united Italy, this 
time with a constitu- 
tional government. 

Italian reformers 
succeeded in interest- 
ing the new Pope, 
Pius IX, to such an 

extent that he introduced many reforms in the Papal 
States. When these reforms did not work out well, 
because the radicals abused their new opportunities, 
Pius became rather reactionary. Some other rulers, 
however, were also influenced to attempt reform. That 
more did not do so was probably due to the fact that 
Austria's power loomed threatening on the horizon. In 
January, 1848, almost all Italy was seething with revolt, 
although a united Italy under a constitutional govern- 
ment seemed yet a long way off. Then a revolution 
broke out in France, and opportunity came not simply 
to the people of Italy but to those of all central Europe to 
secure for themselves the new ideals of the period, na- 
tionality and democracy. 

229. Revolution in Italy (1848). — In Sicily, before the 
famous Paris banquet on Washington's birthday (§ 218), 
there had been an insurrection which was quelled only 



Reform and 
revolution 
in Italy, 

1847-1848. 



284 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



when the king granted a constitution. In Naples some- 
what later the people also forced the king to make con- 
cessions to them. On February 8, Sardinia, which alone 
had kept itself partly free from Austrian influence, re- 
ceived from her king, Charles Albert, a constitution 
(Sta-tu f to) that was destined to become famous and helped 
the citizens of Milan rid themselves of Austrian troops. 

In spite of the fact that Naples sent troops under the 
leadership of a revolutionary general, and that soldiers 
came from other states to join Charles Albert of Sar- 
dinia, the Italian army was not united and could make 
no headway against the Austrian commander, Ra-detz'sky. 
As time passed, the rulers in the central and southern 
Italian states again regained control of their governments 
and countries. Inevitably their troops withdrew from 
the Italian army, leaving the north Italian forces to their 
fate. In July, 1848, Radetzsky made an attack at 
Custozza (Cus-tod'za) upon the poorly organized remnant 
of the pan-Italian army and completely defeated it. No 
peace was made until later. 

230. End of the Revolution in Italy. — The outlook 
in Italy, while not favorable to the revolutionists, was 
nevertheless rather dark for Austria. From Rome the 
Pope had fled, and a republic had been established. The 
same thing occurred in Florence, for after the Grand Duke 
of Tuscany had left, the government was republican. In 
Venice also a republic had replaced the rule of Austria. 1 

In 1849, however, the Austrians with the help of 
the Russians were regaining control everywhere in 
Austrian dominions across the Alps. Once more Radetz- 
sky, now reenforced, took the field against the Sardinian 

1 Most of these Italian states were in disorder and confusion, and dif- 
ferent factions of republican leaders quarrelled incessantly. Even if 
Austria had not regained the upper hand in Italy in 1849, probably no 
one of the republics, except Venice under Daniel Ma-nin', would have 
proved a success. 



ITALY (1830-1849) 285 

king, Charles Albert, and at No-va'ra (March 23, 1849) 
the Italian force was again completely defeated. It was 
now necessary to make peace. With the hope that 
better terms would be granted by Austria to Sardinia, 
Charles Albert abdicated in favor of his son, Victor Em- 
manuel II. In spite of Austrian opposition, the young 
king kept his constitution. 

Austrian influence was rather quickly established Restoration 
again throughout the rest of the peninsula, for the repub- ° f Austnan 
licans were overthrown easily in Florence and in Rome, troi. 
and the Venetians, who fought bravely, were of course 
unsuccessful. By the close of the year 1849 absolutism 
had been restored throughout the peninsula, and appar- 
ently the hope of a free, united Italy under constitutional 
government had been abandoned for good. 

Importance of European Revolutions 

231. The Old Era. -■ — It is unnecessary to repeat Difficulties 
details of conditions which existed in Europe before the P aba f d ? n " 

\ m ing out-of- 

Age of Revolutions. They were described in the intro- date social 
ductory chapter and have been explained under more cu s toms 
than one topic. That many of these conditions were economic 
medieval, or at least out-of-date, is well known. That methods - 
those which were built upon privileges of kings, nobles, 
or clergy could not easily be changed without force or 
violence is equally certain, for no class ever gives up 
voluntarily a position of prestige or power. It was 
almost as difficult to change from old agricultural methods 
to new as it was to bring new rights to the people. To 
abandon spinning and weaving by hand, processes used 
not only by the fathers and grandfathers of those that 
witnessed the Industrial Revolution, but by scores of 
preceding generations, was no less than revolutionary. 1 

1 On the old regime in general see §§ 111-119. On economic conditions 
in England see §§ 178-182, on the Continent see §§ 199, 210. 



286 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Nationality 
and democ- 
racy before 
1789. 



Revolution 
and changes 
in the 
half cen- 
tury before 
1848. 



From the political point of view the contrast between 
the old order and that which supplanted it was as striking 
as that in the social or economic field. The dominant 
principles of the revolutionary era had no place in the 
old regime. At the close of the eighteenth century these 
ideas were expressed in the form of sovereignty of the 
nation and by the expression " liberty, equality, frater- 
nity." In the middle of the nineteenth, they were much 
the same in substance, for they were embodied in the 
terms " nationality and democracy. " Before 1789, we 
hear little of these principles. Louis XIV, not the 
French people, was the state Even in France the mass 
of the people, represented in the third estate or not at 
all, counted for nothing, as Sieyes declared ; yet in other 
countries they were, if possible, even less important. 
They did not understand the idea of nationality, and 
they had no practical acquaintance with liberty. 

232. The Apparent Failure to Get Constitutional Gov- 
ernment. — In order to understand the revolutionary 
movement of 1848, we must study it in relation to the 
whole revolutionary epoch, of which it was a part. We 
must see that it represents an attempt of the people of 
central Europe to throw off burdens which had been gall- 
ing a half century earlier but were insufferable in the mid- 
nineteenth century. To the grandfathers of the revolu- 
tionists of 1848, serfdom had seemed inevitable, payments 
to lords a natural thing, and local systems of law or 
differing local governments unescapable, if not desir- 
able. In a few decades, serfdom had practically dis- 
appeared. To the noble, still the great man of his 
estate or the village, reverence and courtesy were due, 
but special privileges were as much in disuse as the suits 
of armor worn by his medieval ancestors. Instead of 
thousands of tolls and numerous systems of local law, 
France, all restrictions removed, had free trade and fairly 



IMPORTANCE OF REVOLUTIONS 287 

uniform legislation. In Austria and in Italy, and espe- 
cially in Germany, there was hope of these reforms. 

It was the purpose of the leaders of '48 to carry this Success of 
work much farther ; to unify their countries, free the ? ev ° lutlon - 

. . , . ls ts in secur- 

people, and give them a share in their own governments, ingabegin- 
They asked much, and they were not prepared to perform nmg of theLr 
tasks of such magnitude. Under the oppressive rule of 
Metternich, they had not been able to communicate 
with each other, to express their needs and their discon- 
tent with their reactionary governments, or to organize 
for the great work to which they had dedicated them- 
selves. The revolutionists of central Europe were 
obliged to take advantage of an opportunity to revolt 
offered by the overthrow of an unpopular French dynasty ; 
but a successful revolution naturally must be caused by 
internal disorder, not external, or by pronounced weak- 
ness in their own governments. Scattered, with differ- 
ent ideals, unable to keep together, they were neverthe- 
less obliged to contend against governments that had 
dominated all continental Europe, against armies that 
still obeyed their autocratic rulers. Their success con- 
sisted chiefly, therefore, in this : they expressed their 
common protest against reactionary government and 
voiced their common demand for nationality and democ- 
racy. That, under the circumstances, they should gain 
the right to organize themselves as nations, and should 
have a real share in their governments, was not to be 
expected. A constructive program like theirs could not 
have been carried into effect in so short a period or under 
such great difficulties. To destroy takes little time; to 
build up requires years or generations. 

233. Importance of the Age of Revolution. — In 
spite of its apparent failure the movement of 1848 was 
a success, and its real success is proved by the fact 
that it did bring to central Europe both nationality and 



288 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Develop- 
ment of 
nationality 
and democ- 
racy after 
1848. 



Epoch- 
making 
changes of 
the short 
period from 
1789 to 
1849. 



Discontent 
and revolu- 
tion in 
Europe 
(1820- 
1847). 



democracy within a comparatively brief period. Before a 
quarter century had passed, Germany and Italy, politically 
disunited for centuries, had been built into substantial 
nations ; each had been brought under a single national 
government. At the time these peoples were united, 
they did not have a great share in their governments ; 
but they and all other European nations have gradually 
extended the elective franchise to their subjects (§ 457), 
and have become more democratic. 1 

It is not too much to say, therefore, that the six decades 
which we have called the Age of Revolution (1789-1849) 
witnessed the creation of a new Europe. Because the 
old Europe was practically a Europe that in the preced- 
ing centuries had been growing, but outwardly had 
changed little, these changes were abrupt and radical. 
Because they were resisted by the institutions that were 
modified and by the classes who lost rights, privileges, 
or power, they were of necessity revolutionary. That 
the revolutionists were successful not only in destroying 
the old but in creating the new is proof of the necessity 
and of the wisdom of the new principles. The Age of 
Revolution was not an age of completed tasks by any 
means ; it was an era of beginnings, for even to-day we 
have gone but a short way toward the perfection of either 
nationality or democracy. Liberty, equality, fraternity 
are still ideals rather than bases on which we have erected 
modern systems of law or built up social relations. 

234. Summary. — In spite of Metternich's reaction- 
ary policy (§ 173), after 1815 there were many minor 
revolutions, especially in Spain and Italy. In 1830 the 
Bourbon government in France was overthrown (the 
July Revolution) and replaced by the Orleanists (Louis 
Philippe). Belgium gained her independence from Hol- 

1 Germany has done this to a less extent than other countries, because 
Germany started with universal manhood suffrage, thanks to Bis'marck. 



IMPORTANCE OF REVOLUTIONS 289 

land, but elsewhere revolutions failed, especially in Poland, 
which lost her constitution. After 1830 there was dis- 
content in Italy, which found expression in the formation 
of the Carbonari and young Italy, the latter a national 
secret organization of Mazzini. In 1848 revolutions 
broke out in Italy before they occurred in France. In 
the latter county, all classes were dissatisfied with the 
" July Monarchy " and the mediocre but rather arbitrary 
rule of Louis Philippe and his minister, Guizot. 

In February, 1848, Louis Philippe's government, attempt- Revolutions 
ing to forbid reform banquets, was overthrown. The J? France » 
Second French Republic was at first organized with Hungary,' 
national workshops, and Louis Napoleon was chosen ^o4 S Italy ' 
president. In Austria, Hungary, in many German states, 
and in Italy, revolutions broke out in March ;. Metternich 
was overthrown, and everywhere the revolts were success- 
ful at first. In Hungary, Louis Kossuth led the move- 
ments for liberal laws. Italy threatened to unite. At 
first the Austrian government was helpless and promised 
constitutions and reforms. 

Then the army under Windischgratz regained Bohemia Suppression 
and took Vienna, while Radetzsky conquered Italy. fJ* 1 * ™J°~ 
When Francis Joseph II came to the throne, late in 1848, 1848 by 
Hungary revolted again and declared herself independent. Austna - 
She was overpowered by armies of her own Slavic peoples, 
combined with those of the Austrians and the Russians. 
Apparently the revolutions had failed, for the autocratic 
governments were again in authority. Austria was 
supreme in Germany and in Italy, except for the moral 
victory of Victor Emmanuel's refusal to give up his 
Sardinian constitution, and the German patriots at Frank- 
fort had failed to unite Germany under a constitutional 
government. 

The revolutions, however, had not failed. They rested 
on the two great ideas of the time, which most people 



290 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



held but had not been allowed to express, namely, nation- 
ality and democracy. Neither was realized at the time, 
but in later years unity came to Italy and Germany; 
and to-day practically all Europe believes in universal 
manhood suffrage. 

General References 

Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern Europe, II, 1-10, 
53-89. 

Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, 
II, 1-14, 16-22, 27-30, 73-114. 

Hazen, Modern European History, 270-324. 

Hayes, Political and Social Development of Modern Europe, 
II, 14-20, 50-57, 116-160. 

Phillips, Modern Europe (Periods, VIII), 168-292. 

Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814, 103-170, 
326-346, 374-448. 

Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 603-633, 674-823. 

Andrews, Historical Development of Modern Europe, I, 134-448. 

Cambridge Modern History, XI, 22-233. 

Topics 

The July Revolution in France : Hazen, Modern Euro- 
pean History, 273-279, 289-292 ; Seignobos, Political History of 
Europe since 1814, 125-134; Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 
603-619. 

Hungary in 1848-1849 : Hazen, History of Modern Europe, 
298-305 ; Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 709, 713, 748-752, 
762-770 ; Cambridge Modern History, XI, 172-173, 180-185, 202- 
215. 

Italy before 1848 : Andrews, Historical Development of 
Modern Europe, I, 188-192, 213-228 ; Seignobos, Political His- 
tory of Europe since 1814, 326-339; Cambridge Modern History, 
XI, 65-79; Probyn, Italy, 1815-1890, 1-70. 



Studies 

1. France under Louis Philippe after 1840. Seignobos, Polit- 
ical History of Europe since 1814, 145-152. 

2. France under bourgeoisie rule. Guerard, French Civiliza- 
tion in the Nineteenth Century, 105-109. 



REVOLUTIONS 291 

3. The national workshops of 1848. Andrews, Historical 
Development of Modern Europe, I, 345-357. 

4. Liberalism and nationalism in Germany before 1848. 
Richard, History of German Civilization, 459-469. 

5. The Revolution of 1848 in Prussia. Henderson, Short 
History of Germany, II, 348-352. 

6. The Frankfort Parliament (1848-1849). Henderson, Short 
History of Germany, II, 352-354, 360-369. 

7. Kossuth. Latimer, Italy in the Nineteenth Century, 150- 
172. 

8. Mazzini. Mario, The Birth of Modern Italy, Chaps. I— III. 

9. Pius IX and Rome (1847-1848). Probyn, Italy, 1815- 
1890, 71-77. 

Questions 

1. What was the nature of reaction in France after 1815? 
Was it not inevitable that this reactionary rule should lead 
to revolution? How much better off were the French people 
under Louis Philippe after 1830 than under the Bourbon 
kings ? 

2. In what respects did the rule of the July monarchy become 
reactionary before 1848? Describe the factions controlling the 
Second French Republic and explain why the national work- 
shops were a failure. Was the Second French Republic less of a 
bourgeoisie government than that of Louis Philippe? 

3. Explain each of the two great movements which were 
popular in central Europe in 1848. Name a few of the races 
which had not then, and have not yet, obtained for themselves 
a separate national government. 

4. Describe in chronological order the events on the con- 
tinent of Europe during February and March, 1848. 

5. Explain the connection of the following directly or in- 
directly with the Revolutions of 1848 : Metternich, Louis Blanc, 
Kossuth, Mazzini, Windischgratz, and Radetzsky. 

6. To what extent did the Revolutions of 1848 center in 
Hungary and why? How could the Magyars nationalize Hun- 
gary without arousing the opposition of the non-Magyar races 
of that country? How has that problem been solved since 1848? 
Would it be possible or wise to grant to-day national inde- 
pendence and separate national governments to each racial 
group in the Austrian possessions or in southeastern Europe? 
(Compare §§ 304, 412.) 



292 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

7. What was "Germany" before 1848? Could there have 
been a Germany with two leading and dominating states such 
as Prussia and Austria? What attempts were made at Frank- 
fort in 1848 and by Prussia in 1849 to form a new German State ? 
Describe the humiliation of Olmutz and show its importance. 
(Compare §§242-243.) 

8. Show that Italy before 1848 was only a "geographical 
expression." What was the work of Mazzini? What was 
meant by risorgimento ? Explain the part played in the Italian 
Revolution of 1848 by Piedmont (Sardinia) . 

9. Compare the ancient regime with that following the six 
decades of revolutions, 1789-1849. If the revolutions of 1848 
apparently failed to gain either national or constitutional govern- 
ments, why did they really lead to both? Explain the impor- 
tance of the Age of Revolution. 

10. Compare the conditions, the unrest, and the popular 
demands in central Europe before 1848 and in central and eastern 
Europe before 1914. In what countries did revolts break out 
during the Great War? What was accomplished in each case? 






PART III 

DEMOCRACY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

(1849-1918) 



293 



294 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




CHAPTER XII 
NATIONAL UNITY (1849-1871) 

The Unification of Italy 

235. Constitutional Government in Sardinia. — The Thesitua- 
unification of Italy followed rather closely the revolution- S°? ™ 

Italy in 

ary movement of 1848. The darkest hour in the history 1849. 
of Italy and of Sardinia, however, came in the spring of 
1849, after the defeat of the Sardinian king, Charles 
Albert, at Novara (§ 230). Then Austria reestablished 
both her rule in northern Italy and her supremacy in the 
Italian kingdoms throughout the peninsula. . Neverthe- 
less, Sardinia was simply defeated, not conquered. 

The abdication of Charles Albert, who never knew his Attitude of 
own mind, in favor of his son Victor Em-man'u-el, who Emmanuel 
not only knew his mind but stood absolutely and un- toward 
equivocally by his principles, was in itself a great gain ^stria 
for the Italian cause. Victor Emmanuel stood first of all 
unswervingly for a united Italy. Secondly, he stood just 
as steadfastly by the constitution (Statuto) which his 
father had given Sardinia. Austria offered to grant Sar- 
dinia much more favorable terms of peace if she would 
give up this constitution. It was especially offensive 
to Austria because it held up before the eyes of Italian 
liberals a standard of constitutional government which 
they in turn could demand of their own rulers, but Victor 
Emmanuel refused the bribe. 

236. Cavour and His Work. — Under the leadership Great idea 
first of d'A-ze'glio and afterward of Count Ca-mil'lo de o£ Cavour - 

295 



296 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Character 
and early- 
experience 
of Cavour. 



Ca-vour', Sardinia developed into a prosperous and 
successful small Italian state, and prepared to bring the 
cause of united Italy before Europe in the hope that at 
least part of Italy might really be united. 

Cavour was one of the remarkable men of this period. 
He presents that rare combination, a scientist and a 
practical man of affairs, an independent spirit and a 

matchless diplomatist. 
As a young man he 
had traveled exten- 
sively, studying par- 
ticularly the nature of 
the industrial, com- 
mercial, and political 
development of Eng- 
land and of France. 
On his return to Italy 
he devoted careful 
attention to his own 
estate, on which he in- 
troduced agricultural 
improvements. So 
well managed was this 
farm that it gave its 
owner practical expe- 
rience in the importance of business success and pros- 
perity as the basis of national power. 

As minister of business interests he worked unceasingly 
during the first three years of his leadership in Sardinia 
to improve the agriculture and the industry of his coun- 
try. At the same time he made commercial treaties with 
Switzerland, France, England, and other countries, in order 
that foreign trade might be developed. Railways were 
built in different places and a tunnel was planned through 
the Alps to connect Sardinia (Piedmont) with France. 




Cavour 



UNIFICATION OF ITALY 297 

237. Cavour Makes Preparation for a United Italy. — Military 
It can be seen from these statements that Cavour was o[ e g a ^J° a n 
building on sound foundations the future greatness of under 
Sardinia and of Italy. He believed in preparedness in Cavour - 
the most complete sense, but his preparedness was not 
simply economic. He laid the foundations also for Italy's 
place among the Powers by gaining diplomatic friend- 
ships among English and French statesmen. Knowing 
also that in the last analysis Sardinia and the cause of 
united Italy would fail unless he could depend upon 
a well organized army, he gave his attention to military 
affairs. Under Victor Emmanuel and Cavour Sardinia 
had an army which was large and efficient out of pro- 
portion to her size. Had it not been for the economic 
development of the country, however, little Sardinia 
would have been unable to carry successfully the 
heavy financial burdens imposed by so great a military 
program. 

It was through the army that Cavour was first able to Sardinia 
bring the Italian question to the attention of Europe. ^^ e part 
Since the Italians lacked organization and had more than Crimean 
once failed to free themselves from Austrian rule, Cavour J^subse- 
realized that the cause of united Italy must be supported quent peace 
by the European Powers or it would fail. His opportu- counclL 
nity came when France and England joined Turkey in 
making war upon Russia in the Crimean War (§ 409). 
Sardinia sent nearly twenty thousand troops to aid the 
allies. When peace was to be made, Cavour asked to be 
admitted to the council in Paris (1856) which decided the 
terms. Not only was he allowed to be present, but with 
little difficulty he persuaded Napoleon, always anxious 
to play a large part in European politics, to introduce 
before the assembled diplomats the question of Italy. 
The English envoy immediately denounced Austrian 
interference in Italy as a menace to Europe and asserted 



298 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Agreement 
between 
Cavour 
and Na- 
poleon III. 



Preliminary- 
events and 
battles of 
war with 
Austria. 



that the government of the kingdom of Naples and many 
smaller Italian states under Austrian supervision was a 
disgrace to the nineteenth century. Cavour had gained 
a great victory. 

238. The War against Austria. — Cavour realized that 
the first step in Italian independence must be war with 
Austria. Sardinia, though aided by other Italian states, 
had failed in her campaigns against Austria, even when 
Austria was in difficulties at home (§§ 229, 230). Hence, 
she needed an ally. Because of the temperament, policies, 
and ambitions of Napoleon III, Cavour was able finally 
to interest the French emperor in his project. At secret 
meetings at Plombieres (Plum-byar'), 1858, Napoleon 
and Cavour discussed the problem and agreed, as they 
took drives together, that if Austria made war on Sardinia, 
Napoleon should come to the aid of Cavour and should 
free Italy " from the Alps to the Adriatic" 1 

It was not easy for Cavour to bring on a war with 
Austria in which Austria should appear as the aggressor. 
He was aided, however, by the arbitrary rule of Austria 
in Italy, by the unrest and discontent throughout the 
peninsula, and by the continual criticism of Austria 
which was made by Sardinian leaders and newspapers. 
After months of effort he succeeded in " baiting " Austria 
successfully ; and Emperor Francis Joseph II demanded 
the disarmament of Sardinia within three days. Cavour 
and the Sardinians were overjoyed. On the arrival of 
Napoleon's forces, the combined French and Sardinian 
armies marched against the Austrian troops, whose 
organization and leadership were inefficient. At Ma- 

1 Napoleon had always been interested in Italy, especially in the 
revolution of 1831, in which he had taken part. He wished to be a 
patron of a new state of northern Italy, but was not persuaded to take 
sides with Cavour until after a fanatic had tried to assassinate him early 
in 1858. Strangely enough this attempt, instead of turning him against 
the Italian cause, led him to give it aid. 



UNIFICATION OF ITALY 299 

genta, and later at Sol-fe-ri'no, two decisive defeats were 
sustained by the Austrians. The latter now withdrew to 
the famous Quadrilateral, which even the first Napoleon 
had found difficulty in wresting from his enemies. All 
Lombardy was now freed. 

The success of the Sardinians led the people of the Peace 
Italian duchies farther south to expel their hated rulers Napoleon 
and demand annexation to Sardinia. Napoleon was and 
alarmed. He realized fully the difficulties of driving the Austna - 
Austrians from the Quadrilateral ; he was sick of blood- 
shed ; he feared an attack by Prussia along the Rhine 
boundary; and he was afraid to help the Sardinians 
create a state which, if it reached from the Alps to the 
papal states, was bound to give offense to his friend, the 
Pope. Without consulting his Sardinian allies, he, there- 
fore, made peace with Austria. Lombardy was given to 
Sardinia ; but Austria was to keep Venetia, and the 
princes of the north-central states were to be restored to 
their thrones. 

239. The Union of Italy. — Disappointed and dis- Voluntary 
gusted, Cavour resigned ; but Victor Emmanuel, foreseeing o]^ner 10n 
the inevitable expansion of the new Sardinia, finally agreed territories 
to peace. In this he showed wisdom, because the duchies j^° 
south of the Po valley refused to take back their rulers, 
and Austria, influenced by the opposition of England and 
other countries, decided not to intervene again. Early 
in 1860 these duchies, Tuscany, Parma, and Modena, 
and a part of the papal states on the Adriatic Sea, by 
popular vote asked for annexation to Sardinia and adopted 
the Sardinian constitution. In this way a new state was 
formed which included all of Italy north of the Tiber 
river, with the exception of the province of Venetia. 

Southern Italy was not content to remain under Aus- 
trian supervision while northern Italy freed itself from 
the hated rule of the foreigners. Consequently there was 



300 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



UNIFICATION 
OF ITALY 

(1859 - 1870) 



Garibaldi great unrest and discontent in the Kingdom of the Two 
and the ^ Sicilies. In the Island of Sicily the. insurrection against 
the "Two the government was aided by a famous Italian patriot, 
Sicilies." Ga-ri-bal'di. 1 This republican, withal an enthusiastic 

supporter of Victor 
Emmanuel, in 1860 
gathered together 
in northern Italy a 
band of more than 
a thousand " Red 
Shirts." Cavour 
warned him against 
leaving Genoa, but 
did not prevent 
him from sailing 
for Sicily. By 
desperate fighting 
Garibaldi gained 
control of the is- 
land, claiming it 
for Victor Em- 




ILLIAMS EN6.C0., 



Unification of Italy 



manuel. He then 
crossed to the 
mainland, the English and French fleets carefully remain- 
ing in ignorance of his movements. Garibaldi was wel- 
comed to Naples by an enthusiastic populace. " The Nea- 
politan kingdom was not overthrown ; it collapsed.' ' He 
then marched north against the States of the Church, but 
Victor Emmanuel, anxious not to offend the Pope more 



1 Garibaldi had taken part unsuccessfully in former insurrections in 
Italy. He had then fought for liberty in one of the South American re- 
publics. Later he was active in the unsuccessful revolutions of 1848- 
1849. After those disasters he went to New York where he engaged in 
business, first as kettle-maker and later as sea merchant. Having 
amassed a moderate fortune, he bought for himself the Island of Caprera 
off the Italian coast. 



UNIFICATION OF ITALY 301 

than was necessary, himself occupied the eastern papal 
states and relieved Garibaldi of the command. By over- 
whelming majorities the people of Naples, Sicily, and all 
of the States of the Church, except the territory around 
Rome, voted for annexation to Sardinia. 

240. The Kingdom- of Italy. — After two years of Annexation 
fighting and intrigue this successful national movement ng^f 106 
was practically completed, and in 1861 a parliament 
representing all Italy except Venetia and Rome pro- 
claimed Victor Emmanuel king of Italy. Soon after, the 
country lost her great statesman, Cavour, who died at 
the early age of fifty-one, worn out by the extraordinary 
exertions of this crisis. For five years Victor Emmanuel 
and his ministers worked on the problem of making a 
united kingdom out of these different possessions. In 
1866 they were able to strike one last decisive blow 
against their old enemy, Austria. They aided the Prus- 
sians against Austria (§ 246) in the struggle to organize 
a new Germany. The quick collapse of Austria gave 
the Italians possession of the province of Venetia: the 
Habsburgs lost their last territories in the peninsula, and 
ceased to have any real influence in Italy. 

In 1871 the Franco-Prussian War forced France to Occupation 
withdraw from the city of Rome the troops which Napo- ° nd trouble 
leon had kept there for the protection of the Pope for with the 
several years. Alone, the papal troops were of course 
unable to defend Roman soil against the Italians, who soon 
occupied Rome. The capital of modern Italy was then 
transferred to the capital of the ancient world. The 
Pope protested against this seizure of his territories, 
treated the king of Italy as a trespasser, and refused to 
leave his palace, the Vatican. The enmity between the 
Pope and the Italian king, begun even before the time of 
Cavour, has continued practically to the present day 
(§ 276). The Popes have refused to send ambassadors 



302 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




The Capitol, Rome, Italy 

to the Italian Court or to treat in any way with the 
usurper of their rights ; ever since they have remained 
" prisoners of the Vatican." 



The Unification of Germany 

Beginnings 241. Commercial Union under Prussia. — It will be 
of com- remembered that the political disunity of Germany before 

mercial . . 

unity under 1800 was disgraceful. Even after Napoleon's drastic 
the leader- reorganization of Germany (§§ 162-163), the country 
Prussia. was not united even against his oppression. After 1815 
the German Confederation of 39 states was little more 
united than the old Holy Roman Empire had been, al- 
though the way had been prepared for unity by the de- 
struction of numerous small states. Real unity was 
not political, nor was it developed under the leadership of 
Austria ; it grew out of economic needs and was worked 



UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 



303 



out by Prussia. On account of the numerous tariffs 
within Prussia, that state in 1818 made a uniform tariff 
for all her scattered possessions. At first Prussia forced 
some of the petty states whose territories lay between her 
own scattered possessions to unite with her in a Customs 
Union, even against their own will. She gave to each 
its share of the revenues collected at the outside boun- 
daries of the whole Union. 

After Prussia had brought in most of the lands which Formation 
had formerly separated her own territories, she abandoned ^oUverein 

(1834). 




SWITZERLAND \,C 



!5 50 100 150 

The Zollverein in 1834+$, 
Added 1834-1867 



WllltUIS Eli&CQ.,N.Y. 



a policy of force. Thereafter she tried to persuade other 
states to enter her Customs Union. So pronounced were 
the advantages of commercial union, and so opposed to 
Prussian leadership and domination were other states, 
that two other commercial unions were formed, one in 



304 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Advantages 
of the 
Zollverein. 



Commercial 
successes 
and politi- 
cal failures 
of Prussia 
before 1855. 



South Germany and one in central Germany, including 
important seaports, such as Hamburg. Between 1828 
and 1834 most of the states in these other Unions 
abandoned their own plans and joined with Prussia in 
the formation of the single commercial Union, which after 
1834 was known as the German Zollverein. This included 
about two thirds of the territory of the present German 
empire and a population equal to that of the United 
States fifteen years later. 1 Other states afterwards 
joined the Zollverein, as shown in the map on the pre- 
ceding page, but admittance was refused to Austria. 

There was a single tariff for the whole Union for com- 
merce with other countries, and within the territory there 
were no tolls or tariffs. A conference of delegates decided 
policies and made changes in tariff schedules. The states 
became accustomed to giving up their own diverse wishes 
and interests for common advantages. In other words, 
they learned to unite and cooperate. 

242. Austria Loses Leadership in Germany. — Austria 
was expressly excluded from the Zollverein, for Prussia 
was determined to oust the great southern state from her 
traditional leadership in Germany, and was equally deter- 
mined that commercially, if not politically, there should 
be a united Germany which Austria did not dominate. 
In the political field Prussia suffered many defeats, due 
largely to the vacillating policy of her king, Frederic 
William IV, in the critical years from 1848 to 1851. 
Austria's triumph over Prussia at Olmutz (§ 227) was 
short-lived, for Schwarzenberg died in 1852, and his 
successors were not men of real ability. Moreover, 
Prussia was already the leading German state commer- 
cially and within ten years was to become such politi- 
cally. 

The Crimean War, in which neither Austria nor Prussia 

i 23,000,000. 



UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 305 

took active part, had an important influence on Germany. Loss of 
In the first place Austria's attempt to look after her ^^ n in in ~ 
Balkan interests showed conclusively to the other Ger- Germany on 
man peoples that Austria was not distinctively a German theCiimean 
state. Furthermore, Austria's failures to show herself a War. 
great power at this crisis caused her to lose prestige through- 
out Europe. In Germany she lost the moral influence 
which had come from her ability under Metternich and 
Schwarzenberg to direct the affairs of Europe. Conse- 
quently after 1856 the smaller German states came more 
and more to consider Prussia rather than Austria the 
greatest German power. 

When Frederick William IV was succeeded by his Political 
brother William, a new era came to Prussia and to and military 

; . reorganiza- 

Germany. William I was a soldier. As a boy he had tion under 
witnessed the overwhelming defeat of his country at Jena Wllliam L 
(§ 150). As a young man he had fought for Prussia 
and Germany in the later Napoleonic wars. He was 
determined that Prussia should not again be humiliated 
as she had been at Olmutz. Since he was a soldier, he 
naturally looked upon the army as the best means of 
restoring to Prussia her former influence, but in addition 
he reorganized the whole central government and put new 
men at the head of affairs. The greatest of these minis- 
ters was von Roon, minister of war, one of the group 
of soldiers who created a renewed military Prussia. 
With the consent of King William, he asked the Prus- 
sian parliament to call to the army 63,000 recruits each 
year, instead of 40,000.! He wanted also to keep the 
troops in active service for a longer time than under the 
older system. 

1 As noted above (§ 164), the Prussian army after 1807 was made up of 
40,000 new recruits each year. These were supposed to serve only two 
years, and, in spite of the increase of the population of the country the 
number of recruits each year was still 40,000. 
X 



306 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Conflict 
between 
king and 
parliament. 



Bismarck's 
experience, 
character, 
and policy. 



243. The Policy of Blood and Iron. — The Prussian 
parliament voted the additional money needed for the 
army because the members thought it would be asked for 
only one year. When the request was repeated, the lower 
house declined to vote supplies as the king and von Roon 
requested. Believing that without a new army his plans 
for Prussia were doomed to failure, King William in 
despair wrote out his abdication. At this crisis he was 
persuaded to appoint as his chancellor a man already 
known for his ability and decision of character, Prince 
Otto von Bismarck. 

The selection of Bismarck was a disappointment to the 
German liberals, for he was a pronounced conservative and 
reactionary. In 1848 he had shown little sympathy with 
the liberal cause, and at no time had Bismarck favored 
constitutional government. Between the Revolutions of 
1848 and his appointment as chancellor he had had 
extensive diplomatic experiences and had gained a clear 
knowledge of complicated German and European politics. 
For eight years he had served as Prussian delegate in the 
diet of the Confederation at Frankfort. Three years at 
the court of Louis Napoleon had given him practical 
knowledge of the character and methods of the French 
emperor. A year at St. Petersburg (Petrograd) had made 
him familiar in a general way with the Russian states- 
men and problems. Bismarck very promptly announced 
his policy, and in no uncertain terms. He declared 
that " Prussia's boundaries, as determined by the Congress 
of Vienna [§ 171], are not conducive to her wholesome 
existence as a sovereign state. Not by speeches and 
resolutions of majorities the mighty problems of the age 
were solved — that was the mistake of 184-8 and 1849 — but 
by iron and blood." Bismarck meant what he said ; these 
words formed no mere figure of speech, and in a very true 
sense a policy of " blood and iron " was inaugurated. 



UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 307 

Bismarck's first problem was to secure funds for the Bismarck 
new army. When the lower house of the Prussian par- ^ePruT- 
liament refused to vote these supplies, and the upper sian 
house did vote them, the chancellor immediately ruled {j^ ent 
that the supplies had been voted and raised the money. 
For four years he and the Prussian parliament were at 
odds over this question, but in spite of criticism and 
antagonism, Bismarck found a way to carry through the 
policies which he had blocked out. 

The heart of Bismarck's policy was, of course, the Wars which 
creation of a new Germany under Prussian leadership. In ™ arke .° 
the accomplishment of this plan we find three well defined creation of 
steps, each of which was marked by war. The first was the % a ™ 
Danish War (1863) growing out of the Schles wig-Hoist ein 
controversy. The second was the Austro-Prussian War 
(1866), and the third the Franco-Prussian War (1870- 
1871) (§ 254), which was really a war between France and 
Germany, not simply a war of France with Prussia,. 

244. The Schleswig-Holstein Question. — Schles'wig Relation of 
and Hol'stein were two duchies in the lower part of the an!?Hol- 8 
Danish peninsula which were under the rule of the Danish stein to 
king, but were not part of the kingdom of Denmark; that is, enmar • 
the union between Schleswig and Holstein on the one hand 
and Denmark on the other was a purely personal union. 1 
However, at this period, as we have noted several times, 
there was a movement on the part of most countries to 
nationalize their governments and people. Denmark was 
influenced by this spirit of the age and sought to consoli- 
date Schleswig and to a degree Holstein with the Danish 
kingdom proper. As the independence of Schleswig and 

1 Nevertheless Holstein had been a member of the German Confedera- 
tion since 1815. By an agreement of the European powers at London in 
1852, Schleswig and Holstein were to be independent under the rule of the 
Danish king. On the death of the ruling Danish monarch, Frederick VII, 
without heir, Christian of Glucksburg was to become king of Denmark. 



Prussia and 
Austria. 



308 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Hoist ein was guaranteed by the treaty of London (1852), 
which had been signed by Prussia and Austria, but not by 
the German Confederation, Prussia and Austria protested 
and German troops entered Holstein. 
Conquest Bismarck wished the help of Austria in the war on 

and C HoT- W1S Denmark, but he did not want the German Confederation 
stein by to take any part in the struggle. He was able to arrange 
this plan, and the combined Prussian and Austrian armies 
occupied the lower part of Denmark. 1 He then persuaded 
the other European Powers that had signed the Declara- 
tion of London to agree that the duchies were not under 
the king of Denmark. Schleswig and Holstein were 
then turned over to Prussia and Austria. 
Bismarck's Bismarck immediately • insisted that, because the 
the duchies, duchies were near Prussia, they should be brought into 
the Prussian Zollverein and should have their post- 
offices and other affairs administered by Prussia. He 
also declared his intention of occupying the harbor of 
Kiel and of constructing under Prussian auspices a ship 
canal from the Baltic to the North Sea. In brief, he was 
determined to use the duchies as an excuse to pick a 
quarrel with Austria by whi h. he would be able to break 
up the old Confederation, drive Austria out of it, and 
form a new confederation without her. 
New plan of 245. Bismarck Prepares for War with Austria (1865- 
rng m thi Ster " 1866). — In the year 1865 (by the treaty of Gas'tein) 
affairs of Prussia and Austria agreed that the affairs of Holstein 
the duchies, g^o^id \y e administered by Austria while those of Schleswig 
should be cared for by Prussia. The real object of this 
scheme was to create friction with Austria. 

In the war which Bismarck intended to provoke with 

1 At first the European Powers upheld the legality of Bismarck's action 
in invading Denmark, since he was upholding the Declaration of London 
of 1852. At a new conference of the Powers, called to consider this whole 
question, it was later decided that it would be wise to abrogate the 
Declaration of London. 



UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 309 



Austria, it was necessary that he should be assured Bismarck 
of the neutrality of the French government and the ?^J® Q 
neutrality or friendship of Italy. He had a famous that 
interview with Napoleon III at Bi-ar-ritz'. Napoleon gave ^X^^ 
assurance that he would not take active part in a war, but be neutral, 
intimated that he expected territorial compensation if 
Prussia or Austria gained new lands. Napoleon really 
believed that if Prussia and Austria became involved in 
war the struggle for the control of Germany would be so 
prolonged that, even though not extended as the Thirty 
Years' War had been 1 two centuries earlier, he might 
like Richelieu 2 become the arbiter of German affairs 
and make notable gains for France. After great difficulty, 
in the spring of 1866, Bismarck succeeded in making an 
arrangement with Italy by which the Italians agreed to 
help him if, within three months, war broke out between 
Austria and Prussia. The Iron Chancellor now made 
it his first business to see that such a war did occur. 

The Schleswig-Holstein question, of course, furnished Mobiiiza- 
the pretext. The Prussian governor of Schleswig was t }? n ^ nd 
able to make repeated complaints that Austria's rule in mament. 
Holstein was not what it should be. Both Austria and 
Prussia began to get their armies in readiness for trouble. 
Then it was proposed and agreed that. both should dis- 
arm; but the mobilization of Italian troops near the 
border of Venetia was thought by Austria to be sufficient 
excuse for reorganizing her army and stationing it near 
the Adriatic Sea. 

246. The Austro-Prussian War (1866). — Prussia im- Events in 
mediately used this as a pretext and armed again. Austria ^ e t G a e ^ an 
then tried to bring the Schleswig question before the on the 
German diet. Prussia insisted that Austria was failing battlefield, 
to keep her treaty agreements. All Germany, foreseeing a 
crisis, began to prepare for war. On June 11 the German 

1 E. E. C, §§ 704-707. * E. E. C, § 703. 



310 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



diet, at the request of Austria, began to organize the 
Confederation army in order to punish Prussia. Prussia 
treated this action as a declaration of war ; she forthwith 
declared the Confederation dissolved and proposed a 
new organization for Germany. Within a few days her 
armies had overrun Hanover and other of the smaller 
German states which had made common cause with 
Austria against Prussia. Three Prussian armies now pre- 
pared a " drive " on the Austrians. By skillful cam- 
paigning they united, and at Sa'do-wa near Ko-nig-grdtz 
they met an equal number of Austrians, whom they 
defeated decisively, partly because they had better rifles. 

When von Moltke informed the king that " your 
Majesty has won not only the battle but the entire cam- 
paign," Bismarck is reported to have said : " Now we 
must endeavor to establish the old friendship with Austria." 
This remark showed that, although he wished to defeat 
Austria and drive her out of the Confederation and 
organize a new confederation without her, he wished to 
retain her friendship. After all, Austria was a German 
state, useful against Russian enemies on the east and 
French opponents on the west. 

In point of fact, Austria was merely forced to give 
Venetia to the Italians and was not humiliated in any 
real way. The Italians were .deserving of this help 
because their army had kept a large Austrian force occu- 
pied and had thus enabled the Prussian generals to win 
at Sadowa. Although Prussia did not take any Austrian 
territory, she followed the traditional Prussian policy of 
seizing any lands for which there was the slightest pretext. 
As in earlier periods she had added to Brandenburg the 
Polish Prussias on the east and Westphalia and the Rhine 
Province on the west ; so now she forcibly increased her 
possessions by parts of Saxony, and Holstein as well as 
Schleswig. In addition she rounded out her territory, for 




randenburg Prussia in 1648 

Territory acquired 1648-1795 

Territory acquired 1795-1806 
All territory West of the Rhine , except Neuchatcl 
was surrendered by the Peace of Basel, 1795. 




GROWTH OK PRUSSIA, 1S07-1866 

SCALE OF MILES 



Prussiain 1807. 1 1 

Territory acquired 1815 I I 

Territory acquired 1815-1866— I I 

2D ° 
WIUIAUS EN0-C0.,N.T. 



UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 311 

she seized and annexed Hanover, the free city of Frank- 
fort, and some of the smaller German states. The policy 
of " blood and iron " was in good working order, and 
Prussia had made notable gains which she might or might 
not keep in the future. 

247. The North German Confederation. — The year Formation 
after the Austro-Prussian War, popularly known as the ° te ^ £ 
Seven Weeks' War, because of its short duration, all north 
German states north of the river Main formed a new German y- 
united Germany, called the North German Confedera- 
tion. This was not truly a confederation ; it was really 

a federal state. The hereditary president of the organi- 
zation was to be the king of Prussia. There was to be a 
federal council (Bundesrath) (Boon'dez-rat) made up of 
princes or delegates of princes from the different states 
and a lower house elected by universal suffrage. Provi- 
sion was made for the admission of the South German 
states of Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Baden, and Hesse with- 
out amendment of the constitution of the Confederation. 

Soon after, the Zollverein was reorganized and the Organiza- 
members from the South German states were admitted to tlon of a . , 

commercial 

both the federal council and the lower house in order to German 
look after commercial affairs of the Zollverein. Com- !?22J? 

(lODOJ. 

mercially, therefore, the German Empire was organized as 
early as 1868. 

The Second French Empire and German Unity 

248. Louis Napoleon Dictator of France. — The com- Restriction 
pletion of German unity, or, more correctly, the organiza- to 8 ^ 8,86 
tion of the German Empire (1871), was accomplished by French 
Bismarck through a war with France. He was able to Re P ubllc - 
bring this about by shrewd and unscrupulous nego- 
tiations with the French emperor, Louis Napoleon, 

who was ambitious and at the same time rather short- 
sighted. To understand the story it is advisable to con- 



312 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



sider first the history of France in the twenty years 
following the Revolutions of 1848. As we noticed above 
(§ 220), the Second French Republic was organized in 
December, 1848, with Louis Napoleon as President. One 
of the first acts of the new government showed that it did 
not trust the common people, for it abolished universal 
manhood suffrage and allowed only those to vote who had 
lived and paid taxes in their commune for three years. 

Louis Napoleon, being a good politician, opposed this 
change and made himself more popular with the people 
than before. In addition he tried to keep the support of 

the middle classes 
by encouraging in- 
dustry and trade. 
By restoring the 
control of the 
schools to church- 
men, and by sup- 
porting the Pope 
and the church in 
other ways, he was 
able to count on 
the support of the 
clericals. 
By 1851 the 
Second Republic, with the exception of President Louis 
Napoleon, was comparatively unpopular in France. The 
President therefore decided to make himself dictator of 
the country. On December 2, 1851, the anniversary 
of his great uncle's military victory at Austerlitz (§ 149), 
Louis Napoleon, by a coup d'etat (stroke of state), 
established a dictatorship, and reestablished universal 
suffrage. On that morning all prominent republicans 
were arrested and temporarily imprisoned. Napoleon 
at once appealed to the people to support him in this 




Napoleon III 



FRANCE AND GERMAN UNITY 



313 



arbitrary action, which he declared to be for the best 
interests of France. In a plebiscite the people voted by 
an overwhelming majority to support him and author- 
ized him to frame a new constitution. By this constitu- 
tion the government of the country was really vested in 
Louis Napoleon, but the people thought that they were 
having more power than before, because every man was 
allowed to vote. On December 2, 1852, the anniver- 
sary of the coup d'etat, Napoleon took a final step 
by declaring that the Second French Republic had been 
replaced by an empire; he assumed the title Napoleon 
III. 1 This " Second Empire " lasted until 1870. 

249. The Work of Louis Napoleon for France. — As 
emperor Louis Napoleon was at first more politic, more 
popular, and more successful than he had been as presi- 
dent. He was exceedingly affable and approachable at 
practically all times, but his 
experiences had shown him 
the wisdom of keeping his 
plans to himself. His popu- 
larity and his success were 
increased by his marriage to 
a brilliant and charming 
Spanish princess, Eugenie, 
who made his court the 
most attractive in Europe. 

Being himself a good poli- 
tician and aided by so 
skillful an empress, Louis 
Napoleon proceeded to add 
to his popularity in France 
by working for the pros- 
perity of the country. In 




Empress Eugenie 



Popularity 
and mar- 
riage of 
Napoleon. 



Encourage- 
ment of 
business 
and protec- 
tion of 
labor. 



1 The honorary title Napoleon II had been granted to the youthful 
son of Napoleon I and Maria Louisa. 



314 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Ambition 
of Napoleon 
to be the 
arbiter of 
European 
affairs. 



the largest seaports fine docks were constructed. The 
building of railways, which had been neither long nor 
numerous when he became emperor, was encouraged, 
as was the further introduction of the telegraph. New 
roads were opened, some rivers were made more easily- 
navigable, and canals were constructed in various parts 
of France. In order to encourage the investment of 
capital in agriculture, industry, and these other enter- 
prises, Napoleon permitted new banking organizations to 
be formed which loaned money to those who wished to 
start businesses, or to landed proprietors who wished to 
introduce new crops or improvements. In order that 
the workmen might not feel that more was being done 
for capital than for labor, laws were passed to benefit 
disabled or needy workers. 

Under the able guidance of Baron Haussmann, Paris 
was replanned and to a certain extent rebuilt; on the 
site of the old walls a ring of boulevards was constructed, 
wide and beautifully paved. In order that these fine 
streets might be properly shaded, large trees were trans- 
planted bodily from the neighboring forests. Along 
these boulevards buildings were required by law to be of 
fairly uniform height and character. 

250. Napoleon III as the Arbiter of European Affairs. 
— Napoleon was not satisfied to be the first man in 
France ; he wanted to be considered, as his uncle had been, 
the greatest ruler of Europe. In spite of his repeated 
declaration that " the empire means peace" his ambition 
to be the arbiter of European affairs led to numerous 
wars. Since he wished to be the deus ex machina, the 
directing deity who solved the international problems of 
Europe, and since he believed thoroughly in the doctrines 
of '48 that every race had a right to organize itself as a 
nation, Louis Napoleon easily became a meddler. If, in 
the end, his plans failed to succeed, other statesmen, 



FRANCE AND GERMAN UNITY 315 

possibly more unscrupulous than himself, made him the 
scapegoat. At first, however, he was quite successful. 
As the self-appointed defender of the holy places in 
Jerusalem, together with England he made war upon 
Russia in a Crimean war (1854-1856) (§ 409). 

251. Failures of Louis Napoleon. — The failures of Misunder- 
Louis Napoleon seem to begin with his failure to free the standing 
Italians (§ 238). He went far enough to offend Austria Italians. 
and the Pope; but his unwillingness to go as far as he 
had promised lost him the cordial friendship of the 
Italian race, whom he really had aided. 

His first conspicuous failure, however, was not in Italy, Failure 
but in America. Here the ambition to establish a colonial °? French 

plans in 

empire led him astray. In 1859 the Mexican government Mexico, 
had refused to pay the debts which it owed abroad ; 
consequently several European countries united to com- 
pel payment. After the debts had been settled, troops 
which had been sent to Mexico were kept there by Napo- 
leon. In order to gain the friendship of Austria, he per- 
suaded the younger brother of Francis Joseph II, the 
Archduke Max-i-mil'i-an, to accept the throne as em- 
peror of Mexico. Since the United States was engaged 
in the Civil War, it could do no more at the time than 
protest against this violation of the Monroe Doctrine. 
When the war closed, however, France was told to with- 
draw from Mexico the French troops that kept Maxi- 
milian on the Mexican throne. This was done without great 
delay, and Maximilian, left without military support, was 
overpowered by the great Mexican patriot Benito Juarez 
(Hu-a'rez) and put to death. This failure in Mexico was a 
great blow to the pride and prestige of the ''Second Empire." 

Not in southern Europe nor in America, however, was Relations 
Napoleon's humiliation to be completed. 1 His down- withBis- 

r marck. 

1 An adventurer and a politician who was visionary and ambitious, 
the third Napoleon was treated with more or less contempt by his 



316 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



fall was due directly to his relations with the Prussian 
empire builder, Bismarck. The story of how he was out- 
witted in negotiations by the unscrupulous Iron Chancellor 
and how his armies were defeated by the military machine 
of Roon and Moltke, is the story of Germany rather than 
of France. Napoleon desired to obtain for France more 
territory in the Rhine valley. He was also anxious to be 
consulted by the German statesmen about the numerous 
and important changes that were occurring in the Ger- 
man Confederation (§§ 243-247). 

252. Napoleon's Attempts to Get Territorial Compen- 
sation on the Rhine. — In the interview with Bismarck 
at Biarritz (§ 245), Napoleon had intimated that he ex- 
pected territorial compensations as the price of his neu- 
trality in a war between Prussia and Austria. He had 
tried also to secure from Austria promises that he should 
have certain territories in case of war. Later, after the 
battle of Sadowa (§ 246), when he was selected as mediator 
between the warring nations, he tried to dictate what new 
territory Prussia should have, what Austria should give 
up and receive, and what should be given to France as 
her share. 

Although Napoleon had failed to get any Rhine terri- 
tory as a result of the struggle between Austria and 
Prussia, he was not satisfied to accept his failure as final. 
He proposed to Bismarck that France should annex the 
duchy of Luxemburg, paying for it a sum to the king of 
Holland, by whom the duchy was ruled. This fell through. 
He also negotiated for Belgium, and Bismarck led the 
French emperor on without committing himself, in order 
that later he might expose to Europe Napoleon's ambition 
and alleged double-dealing. Bismarck's statements were 



contemporaries and was popularly dubbed "Napoleon the Little" in 
contrast with his great uncle. Nevertheless Napoleon was a man of big 
ideas and a ruler of no little ability. 



FRANCE AND GERMAN UNITY 317 

made public at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, 
and aroused public sentiment against Napoleon in many 
countries. Meanwhile the ambition of the French emperor 
was used by the wily Bismarck as means for securing 
the aid of the South German states, who feared Napoleon's 
scheme for territorial expansion in the Rhine valley. 

253. Napoleon vs. Bismarck. — Napoleon had been How Na- 
completely outwitted by Bismarck, first, by allowing a p° leon m 
powerful new state to be organized with territories on witted by 
both banks of the Rhine river, which France looks Blsmarck - 
upon as her natural eastern boundary ; and secondly, by 
giving Bismarck proof of his desire for territory on the 
east, without getting any territory. 

Bismarck finally so outplayed Napoleon in the game of The Ho- 
diplomacy that in 1870 France declared war against hen zpiiem 

t» • i • i i-r.- T candidacy 

Prussia, which was exactly what Bismarck wanted. In and the 
1868 the republicans of Spain had driven their king from E ™ s dls " 
his throne. In 1869 the throne was offered to Leopold, 
a prince of the house of Hohenzollern, though of a dif- 
ferent branch from that to which the king of Prussia 
belonged. France naturally objected, because she did 
not wish even distant relatives to reign in countries on 
either side of her. Leopold agreed not to be a candidate 
for the Spanish throne, and Napoleon's ministers might 
have been content. Instead, Napoleon allowed his foreign 
secretary to send to King William a demand that Leopold's 
candidacy should never be renewed. William flatly re- 
fused to bind himself by a promise. Bismarck, anxious 
for war, and knowing that Prussia was ready and that 
France was not, sent out a statement condensing the 
king's account of the interview. It was his intention that 
this famous Ems dispatch should make the Prussians think 
their ruler had been insulted by the French ambassador 
and should give the French the impression that their am- 
bassador had been insulted by the king. France immedi- 



318 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



ately declared war against Prussia. Napoleon alone of 

those high in authority realized that the French army was 

in no condition to meet the trained Prussian troops, as all 

his attempts to prepare a better army had come to 

naught. 

Disparity 254. The Franco-German War (1870-1871). — In July 

in prepared- France found herself at war with Prussia, which had been 

ormonents. carefully prepared for this war that she had deliberately 



French dis- 
asters in 
the fall 
of 1870. 







• 




lib 










^MtnMi 


WMIB' 


jAjt- 




ifjiffe 




IKS'l 


: . ' ■:_■ ■ • 


^ISt 







The Old Tuileries 
(Before their destruction in 1871) 

provoked. It is said that the Prussian war office had a 
map of every road in France. Beside her great army, 
equipped with modern guns, highly organized, com- 
manded by von Moltke, Prussia had the support of the 
North German Confederation and the states of South 
Germany. 

The French plan of invading Germany was abandoned 
at the beginning of the war. In four divisions the 
German veterans crossed the Rhine and invaded France. 
Accounts of 1871, which give details of the German ad- 
vance, read like records of the atrocities in Belgium in 



FRANCE AND GERMAN UNITY 319 

1914 (§ 438). The principal French army was besieged 
in the fortified city of Metz, where it could be of no possible 
service. Napoleon tried to stop the invaders ; at Se-dan' 
his army was surrounded and captured, and the emperor 
himself was taken prisoner. 1 Paris was now besieged, 
Metz was captured with a French army of 180,000 officers 
and men, and the new army 2 that was hastening to the 
relief of Paris was defeated. Notwithstanding these re- 
verses, the new republican government of France rejected 
the harsh terms of peace offered by Bismarck. 

After a siege of several months, the Germans began to Siege of 
bombard Paris. Food was so scarce that rats sold for ^reat^l 
forty cents each. Wood was exhausted, although many Frankfort, 
trees were cut down, and most of the fires in the city 
during the bitter cold of January, 1871, were started by 
the bursting of the German shells. Meanwhile the Ger- 
man princes had agreed to create a larger political organi- 
zation to be known as the German Empire. On January 
18, 1871, William of Prussia was proclaimed German 
emperor in the palace of Louis XIV at Versailles. After 
Paris surrendered, in the Treaty of Frankfort (1871) France 
accepted the harsh and humiliating terms demanded 
by Bismarck. An indemnity of one thousand million 
dollars was to be paid and Alsace with part of Lorraine 
was to be ceded to the newly organized German Empire, 
which in this way excluded France entirely from the valley 
of the Rhine. German troops were to remain in France 
until the indemnity was paid, a humiliation which aroused 
French patriots and led to the rapid cancellation of the 

1 A republic was proclaimed at Paris (§ 256), Sept. 4, on receipt of 
the news from Sedan, since the capture of the French emperor left the 
government without a head. 

2 Leon Gambetta escaped from Paris in a balloon. By his enthusiasm 
and eloquence, he inspired the French to organize citizen armies which 
included twice as many troops as had confronted the Germans at Metz 
and Sedan. They were however poorly equipped and led by inexperi- 
enced generals. The chief of these citizen forces was the Army of the Loire. 



320 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

heavy debt. France has never forgiven Germany for 
the seizure of Alsace-Lorraine (§ 268). 
Unification 255. Summary. — The two Napoleons greatly aided 
Italy in arousing the national sentiment of the country 
and wresting northern Italy from Austrian rule, but uni- 
fication was the work chiefly of the Italians themselves, 
especially of Mazzini, of the society of Young Italy, and 
of Victor Emmanuel, who clung to Sardinia's constitution 
and to his idea of Italian unity. By his diplomacy Cavour 
gained the friendship of England and France and made 
other Italian states willing to unite with Sardinia. The 
war with Austria added Lombardy directly and all north- 
central Italy indirectly. Garibaldi and his forces occupied 
Sicily and Naples, which next voted to join Sardinia. In 
1866 Venetia was added, and in 1871 Rome. All Italy 
was then united under the house of Savoy, which rules 
it at present. 
Unification German unification had been the dream of thinkers 
— first many anc ^ statesmen for more than two generations. It occurred 
under the leadership of Prussia, which was an autocratically 
governed state, the largest of North Germany. She first 
brought all northern and central Germany together in a 
commercial union, the Zollverein. She then schemed to 
replace Austria as the first German state. To do this, 
under the new king William I she organized a fine army 
(Prussian traditions favored militarism) against the 
wishes of the Prussian parliament. Bismarck, the Iron 
Chancellor, then proceeded to provoke three wars by 
means of which Germany (without Austria) was united. 
The first of these was the Danish war, which took from 
Denmark the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Prussia 
controlled one, Austria the other. Quarrels over the 
proper administration of affairs in the duchies gave excuse 
for the Austro-Prussian war (1866), which really lasted but 
three weeks, when the Austrians were defeated at Sadowa. 



FRANCE AND GERMAN UNITY 321 

Louis Napoleon, president of the Second French Repub- Second 
lie, made himself popular and in 1851 by a coup d'etat E^ n ^ e f 
established himself as dictator. In 1852 he was declared Louis 
emperor with the title of Napoleon III. He aided busi- Na P° leon - 
ness at home ; abroad he favored the idea that each race 
should form a nation, and tried to make himself arbiter 
of international affairs. In the last years of his reign 
his government was quite autocratic in France and his 
international policies did not prosper in Italy, in Mexico, 
and in Germany ; he was outwitted by Bismarck in all 
his dealings with that crafty statesman. 

Napoleon, greedy for more land along the Rhine, Unification 
and French politicians, determined that no prince Q 8 ?2 many 
with the title Hohenzollern should sit on the Spanish 1891). 
throne, gave Germany excuse to invade and crush the 
Second Empire, boastful but really unprepared. Sedan, 
Metz, and Paris followed in rapid succession. Citizen 
armies failed to defeat German veterans, of course. 
France, prostrate, was forced to pay five billion francs 
as indemnity and to yield Alsace with part of Lorraine ; 
and the Alsace-Lorraine question has kept Europe in 
ferment for more than a generation. At Versailles, in 
January, 1871, the South German states joined the North 
German Confederation and formed the German Empire. 

General References 

Hazen, Modern European History, 325-362. 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 150- 
210. 

Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814, 170-184, 
344-363, 448-484. 

Phillips, Modern Europe (Periods, VIII), 293-489. 

Andrews, Historical Development of Modern Europe, II, 1-277. 

Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, 824-1019. 

Cambridge Modern History, XI, 286-308, 366-506, 529-549, 
576-612. 

Murdock, Reconstruction of Europe. 



322 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Topics 

Cavour : Encyclopedia Britannica, art. "Cavour"; Latimer, 
Italy in the Nineteenth Century, 183-188, 199-200, 212-214, 238- 
245; Orsi, Cavour. 

The Zollverein : Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 
1814, 451-454; Gibbins, The Nineteenth Century — Economic 
and Industrial Progress, 212-217 ; Ogg, Economic Development of 
Modern Europe, 297-301. 

The Austro-Prussian War : Henderson, A Short History of 
Germany, II, 398-410; Baring-Gould, Germany, 388-394; 
Hawksworth, The Last Century in Europe, 308-328; Murdock, 
Reconstruction of Europe, 211-275. 

Studies 

» 

1. Conditions in Austrianized Italy. Thayer, Life and 
Times of Cavour, I, Chapter VII. 

2. Activity of the Reds in Italy after 1848. Thayer, Life 
and Times of Cavour, I, Chapter X. 

3. The Powers at Paris, 1856. Thayer, Life and Times of 
Cavour, I, Chapter XIV. 

4. How Cavour prepared for war with Austria. Andrews, 
Historical Development of Modern Europe, II, 111-120. 

5. The work of Garibaldi. Murdock, Reconstruction of 
Europe, 163-177. 

6. The policy of blood and iron. Henderson, A Short History 
of Germany, II, 379-398. 

7. The Schleswig-Holstein question. Seignobos, Political 
History of Europe since 1814, 466-469. 

8. Sadowa. Murdock, Reconstruction of Europe, 237-246. 

9. Napoleon III. Thayer, Throne Makers, 44-78. 

10. Coup d'etat of Dec. 2, 1851, in Scribner's Magazine, 38 
(1905), 417-423. 

11. Napoleon's loss of prestige after 1860. Hayes, Political 
and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 175-180. 

12. Sedan. Murdock, Reconstruction of Europe, 329-341. 

13. Paris in war time. Murdock, Reconstruction of Europe, 
350-367. 

Questions 

1. What was the importance of Victor Emmanuel's deter- 
mination to keep a constitution? In what ways did Cavour 



NATIONAL UNITY 323 

aid the king of Sardinia in planning for a united Italy? (Con- 
sider work in Sardinia, relations with France, and participation 
in the European council in Paris, 1856.) 

2. What was the attitude of Austria toward Italy from 1815 
to 1860? Why did Napoleon III at first help the Italians 
against Austria and then withdraw his aid? Account for the 
fact that all northern Italy desired annexation to Sardinia. 
Explain the causes of the annexation later of (a) the kingdom 
of the two Sicilies, (6) of Venetia, (c) of Rome and the surround- 
ing territory. How do you account for the remarkable achieve- 
ments by which the whole peninsula of Italy was united into a 
single kingdom within a period of twelve years ? 

3. Explain the political condition of Germany before 1800 
(§ 160). To what extent was the German Confederation after 
1815 more successful in uniting the German people than the 
old Holy Roman Empire had been? For what reasons did 
northern Germany organize a Zollverein, and what was its 
significance ? 

4. Explain the position before 1815 of Prussia as a German 
power. Show how the events of the ten years following the 
humiliation of Olmiitz favored Prussian rather than Austrian 
leadership in Germany. What was the work done by William I 
and Roon for Prussian headship ? 

5. Who was Bismarck? Explain carefully what is meant by 
his policy of "blood and iron." Describe his quarrel with the 
Prussian lower house over money for the army. What were the 
three steps by which Bismarck developed a united Germany? 

6. Explain the Schleswig-Holstein question and describe 
the Danish War. Show how Bismarck used the Danish duchies 
as an excuse to pick a quarrel with Austria. Describe the Seven 
Weeks' War, and explain the nature of the North German Con- 
federation organized in 1867. 

7. Who was Louis Napoleon ? What qualities did he possess 
which made him a rather successful ruler of France and for 
ten years the arbiter of general European affairs? How did 
Louis Napoleon become president of France, then dictator, then 
Emperor Napoleon III? What work did he do for France? 
Why was he at first successful and later a failure in his attempt 
to manage European affairs ? 

8. Describe the different negotiations between Napoleon 
and Bismarck over territorial "compensation" of France along 
the Rhine. How was the ambition of Napoleon for additional 



324 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

territory used against him by Bismarck in 1870? Describe 
the negotiations between Bismarck and. Napoleon over the 
Hohenzollern candidacy for the Spanish throne. Show the 
part played by the famous Ems dispatch in bringing on war 
between France and Prussia. 

9. Describe the German invasion of France in 1870. Show 
how the French lost their two main armies. Describe the 
siege of Paris and French attempts to raise new armies. Name 
the provisions of the Treaty of Frankfort. Why has the cession 
of Alsace-Lorraine remained a cause of dissension to the pres- 
ent day ? 



CHAPTER XIII 

FRANCE, ITALY, AND THE NETHERLANDS 

Organization and Government of the Third 
French Republic 

256. The First Organization of the Third French Re- Proclama- 
public. — When Napoleon III was captured with his tl0n °! a 

r ^ ^ republic. 

army at Sedan (§ 254), September 2, 1870, the Second 
Empire came to an end. Two days later, at the Hotel de 
Ville, in Paris, the Third French Republic was proclaimed 
by the radical republicans. 

When an election was held for members of an assembly The con- 
to form a legal government, few republicans were chosen, 
because the republicans wanted to continue the war. 
Consequently the monarchists were in the majority, but 
they were divided into several groups, one of which sup- 
ported the Bourbon Count de Chambord, grandson of 
Charles X, in whose favor that monarch had abdicated in 
1830 (§ 216). Another supported the Orleanist Count 
of Paris, grandson of Louis Philippe who had abdicated in 
favor of this grandson in 1848 (§ 218). Since the Orlean- 
ists were comparatively numerous, one of their number, 
Adolphe Thiers (Ty-er), the leader of newspaper men in 
the July Revolution (1830) (§ 216), a moderate who de- 
sired peace, was chosen " chief of the executive power of 
the French Republic." 

257. The Republic and the Commune. — In order 
not to be influenced by the Paris mob, sessions of the 
assembly were held at Versailles, two centuries earlier the 

325 



326 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



home of Louis XIV. The Parisians considered this a 
direct insult. Moreover, they did not desire to be ruled 
by an assembly of French business men, 1 for they wished 
their city to be practically self-governing. In the early 
spring of 1871, Paris organized a government of her own, 
known as the commune, and refused to take further orders 
from the Thiers government in Versailles. 

Before many weeks the commune was controlled by the 
extreme radicals and by the leaders of the Paris mob. 
The communards defied the government at Versailles and 
for two months fought the troops of the republic, finally 
in the streets of Paris. The advance of the Versailles 
forces was marked by terrible slaughter, by fires, and by 
the shooting in cold blood of communards captured in the 
streets. 2 Paris has not yet forgotten the horrors of " the 
bloody week,'' but the Parisian mob has never since in- 
terfered with the management of France by her national 
government. 

258. The Republic and the Monarchists. — The history 
of France under the Third French Republic may be divided 
into three periods. The first of these lasted from 1870 to 
1879. During this time the monarchists were in control, 
at least of the presidency. The second period extended 
from 1879 to 1890. During these years the republicans 
had opportunity to show whether they could manage a 
republic successfully. The third period, from 1890 to the 
present time, has been marked by (1) the successful solu- 
tion of several difficult internal, political problems, (2) by 

1 The government of France at this time was actually controlled neither 
by monarchists nor by republicans ; it was really managed in the inter- 
ests of the middle class, the bourgeoisie, which had controlled several 
governments in France during the preceding century. These merchants, 
manufacturers, and professional men had little sympathy with the 
radical republicans or with the working classes. 

2 More than seventeen thousand were butchered in this way, and many 
thousands were tried and put to death, sent to prison, or exiled to French 
colonies in the south seas. 



ORGANIZATION OF FRENCH REPUBLIC 327 



the expansion of France, and (3) by the restoration of the 
country to her former exalted position among the Great 
Powers. 

After the Franco-Prussian War, the French people, 
much to Bismarck's amazement and disgust, reached down 
into their famous " woolen stockings " and took out their 
savings. They loaned to the French government a sum 
much greater than that needed to pay the exceedingly large 
indemnity of a billion dollars demanded by Germany 
(§ 254). Consequently, this debt was paid before it was 
due, and the last Prussian grenadier withdrew from French 
soil in 1873. 

In the same year Thiers was forced to resign from his 
office as chief executive, and Marshal Mac-Ma-hon' was 
chosen as his successor. MacMahon was an out-and-out 
monarchist, although exceed- 
ingly honest and devoted to 
the interests of France as he 
saw them. It was expected 
that he would hold this posi- 
tion temporarily and that he 
would be succeeded by the 
Count of Chambord, with the 
title of Henry V. Since the 
Count had no children, an 
agreement was made that he 
should be supported by the 
Orleanists, and that in turn 
he should recognize as his 
successor the Count of Paris. 
However, the supporters of monarchy in France reckoned 
without their host, for although the Count of Chambord 
believed that he was already the French king, he re- 
fused to accept the title unless he were allowed to 
use as the legal flag of France the white lilies of the 




The Count of Paris 



Payment of 
the large 
German 
indemnity 
(1873). 



The 

problem of 
a royal or a 
republican 
chief 
executive. 



328 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Bourbons. 1 Even his own supporters knew that the 
French people would never give up the tricolor. The 
Count of Chambord, last of the Bourbons, proved that, 
even in the late nineteenth century, the Bourbons never 
learned anything or forgot anything. 

259. The Constitution of France. — It was now neces- 
sary to decide how long MacMahon should remain in 
office, and seven years was agreed upon as the term of the 
chief executive. In 1875 the assembly passed three 
" constitutional laws," which taken together practically 
form the present French constitution. The first of these 
laws, passed by a majority of a single vote, was the first 
real recognition that France was a republic, because it 
declared the official title of the chief executive to be " pres- 
ident of the republic." We must remember that this 
constitution of the French republic was made by mon- 
archists and was so planned that the president might 
resign and his place be taken by a king. Since the king 
was to reign but not to govern, the president was not to be 
responsible to any one, either the French parliament or the 
French people. As a result, some French presidents have 
been simply figure heads ; the great powers of the executive 
are exercised by ministers who are nominally selected by the 
president, but actually form a committee of the parliament. 

The French parliament is made up of two chambers. 
The. upper house, the Senate, consists of three hundred 
members elected for terms of nine years. The lower 
house, the Chamber of Deputies, is made up of about 
twice as many members, elected for a term of four years 
by universal suffrage from separate districts. 2 The 

1 The Orleanists were not able to make the Count of Paris king of 
France, because they had already agreed to support the Count of Cham- 
bord during his lifetime. 

2 For a short period (1885-1889), deputies were elected on a general 
ticket by departments instead of from separate districts. During that 
interval the Boulanger affair occurred. 



FRENCH GOVERNMENT 



329 



Chamber of Deputies may be dissolved by the ministers, 
with the consent of the Senate. It therefore would seem 
to be a combination of the American House of Represent- 
atives and the English House of Commons (§ 358), but it is 
more like the latter. 

Ordinarily the chambers of the French parliament Meetings of 
meet in Paris, in different buildings. When a president assembly^ 
of the republic is to be elected, however, or a change is to 
be made in the constitution, they meet together as a 
National Assembly; and to prevent possible influence 
by the Paris mob, they meet for that purpose in Versailles. 

260. Parliamentary Government in France. — The 
ministers who direct the affairs of France would seem to 




Interior of Chamber of Deputies 



need the support of both houses of the French parliament ; 
but, as it is not possible for a ministry to obey more than 
one master, the ministers are responsible not to the parlia- 
ment at all, but to the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. 



330 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Since France does not have two well-organized political 
parties, such as the Republican and Democratic parties 
in America, or the Liberals and the Unionists in Great 
Britain (§ 346), it has been very difficult for groups of the 
numerous parties to work together and for a ministry 
which represents any group of several different parties 
to keep the confidence and support of the Chamber of 
Deputies. Consequently, one ministry has succeeded 
another in almost bewildering succession. 

It must not be imagined that a change of ministry 
usually means a change of either policies or principles 
for the government. Most of the time from 1879, when 
the monarchists finally lost control altogether, until the 
beginning of the twentieth century, the government was 
controlled by the same general set of middle class bourgeoi- 
sie politicians. Frequently a new ministry would be com- 
posed of the same persons as the old cabinet, with the 
exception of two or three men. From 1900 to 1914 the 
radical republicans (§ 267) furnished most ministries. 

The French ministers are allowed to speak in the 
Chamber of Deputies in order to explain their policies 
and secure support from the members. In turn the dep- 
uties may question any minister in regard to any bill, 
law, or policy. This is called " inter pellation." x 

Experience under Republican Rule (1879-1914) 

261. The Republicans in Control. — In 1877 the re- 
publicans finally obtained a majority in the Senate as well 
as in the Chamber of Deputies. For two years longer 
MacMahon clung to the presidency, but finally he re- 
signed, and the republicans then gained entire control of 

1 In a Chamber representing a large number of parties it is very 
easy to ask of the ministers embarrassing questions. If a reply of any 
minister fails to satisfy the deputies, they can overthrow the whole 
ministry, simply by voting a lack of confidence in that one minister. 






FRANCE UNDER REPUBLICAN RULE 



331 



the government. Thus the republicans won their first 
great victory. 

Because of their experience with MacMahon, the Unpopular 
republicans selected an exceedingly moderate president, ft esof 

Jules Gre-Vy', who was adminis- 

unwilling to intrust the ~ traW 

government to the real 
leader of the repub- 
licans, Leon Gam-bet'ta, 
until a few months be- 
fore Gambetta's death 
in 1882. Under the 
leadership of Jules Fer- 
ry' , however, an ardent 
expansionist and a 
broad-minded states- 
man, France created 
new colonies in Tunis 
and in southeastern 
Asia. 1 The expansion 
policy of France and 
the new republican laws 

to reduce the number of church schools 2 weakened both 
the friendship of the other European countries and the 
support of many factions at home. 

Partly because of factional quarrels, the republicans 

1 During this period the French Chamber of Deputies refused by an 
overwhelming vote to take part with Great Britain in a joint expedi- 
tion against Ar'a-bi Pa-sha', who had revolted in Egypt, and conse- 
quently Great Britain alone has since that time controlled Egyptian 
affairs (§§ 377-378). 

2 Under Ferry as minister of education a new free public school system 
was begun. Free primary schools were established and high schools were 
encouraged. Since many of the former schools had been controlled by 
the clergy and some of them by the order of Jesuits, who could not le- 
gally organize and teach in France, Ferry drove out of France the Jesuits 
and suppressed some of the other church schools. 




332 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Groups op- 
posed to the 
new 
republic. 



Rise of 
Bou- 
langism. 



Downfall of 
Boulangism. 



found that it was much easier to get rid of the rule of the 
monarchists than it was to make France really demo- 
cratic. The monarchists were not yet willing that France 
should remain a republic, and the clericals not only dis- 
liked the republic in general but were naturally much 
offended by the new school laws. The radicals favored 
care of the workingman at home and were therefore 
opposed to the expansionist movement of Ferry, with its 
high taxes. There was in addition a comparatively small 
but ardent group, which organized itself into the league 
of revenge and was determined to stir up war with Ger- 
many in order to regain Alsace and Lorraine (§ 268). 

262. Boulangism. — In 1886 some of these discontented 
parties succeeded in naming, as minister of war, General 

. Boulanger (Bu-lan-zhe'), a 

brilliant politician and 
orator. Boulanger appealed 
to the French nation as a 
leader who would restore 
the ancient prestige of 
France. He was supported 
by almost all of the discon- 
tented factions because they 
believed that he would give 
them what they wanted. 
He and they thought that 
this could be done through 
the army, and he intimated 
that the restoration of Alsace 
and Lorraine would be one 
of the first changes. He 
was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from many 
departments, and his fame grew with each new election. 

Finally in 1889 he announced himself as a candidate in 
Paris. In spite of the fact that the republicans in control 




General Boulanger 



FRANCE UNDER REPUBLICAN RULE 333 

of the government united and rallied their forces, they 
were not able to check the rising tide of Bou-lan'gism. 
The Boulangists carried on a publicity campaign of re- 
markable splendor ; the streets and shops were placarded 
with huge election cartoons and proclamations in colors as 
numerous as those of Joseph's famous coat. When the 
votes were counted, the majority of Boulanger in Paris 
was found to be more than eighty thousand. Had he 
followed this election by a stroke of state similar to that 
of Louis Napoleon in 1851 (§ 248), he might have made 
himself ruler of France ; but he lacked the courage to 
follow up his advantage, and, when the government took 
action against him for conspiracy, he fled from France, 
and his cause collapsed. 1 The republic had survived its 
second crisis. 

263. The Dreyfus Affair. — In 1891 France emerged The Dual 
from the position of isolation into which she had been f}^^ e 
thrust by Bismarck (§ 421), for she made with Russia the 
Dual Alliance (§ 422), by which the two countries agreed 
to help each other against their enemies. They thus agreed 
to protect each other against Germany. Meanwhile, 
the internal troubles of France became even more serious 
than before. Taking advantage of the Drey-fus' case, the 
enemies of the republicans attempted to overthrow the 
government. 

In 1895 a French officer, an Alsatian Jew, Captain Accusation 
Alfred Dreyfus, was accused of selling French military * ga J° s *'J an J* 
secrets. The trial in a military court attracted little Dreyfus, 
public attention. Dreyfus was found guilty and sent to 
Devil's Island, off the coast of French Guiana in South 
America, but some of his friends, believing him inno- 
cent, demanded that the case should be tried again. 
Nothing was done, however, until Colonel Picquart 

1 Two years later, an exile from his native land, Boulanger committed 
suicide ; but the danger had passed with his departure from France. 



334 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Victory of 
the reform 
parties and 
of the 
Drey- 
fusards. 



Controversy 
between the 
clericals and 
the republic, 
especially 
over educa- 
tion. 



(Pi-kar') discovered new evidence which indicated that 
Dreyfus was not guilty, but that the guilty parties were 
two other army officers. 1 

During the next few years the Dreyfus affair became 
really a giant contest between the old conservative anti- 
republican factions, which sought to discredit the repub- 
lic, and the newer reforming factions, which were the 
supporters of French government. The contest raged 
throughout the country for a number of years. Finally, 
in 1906 the highest French tribunal, the Court of Cassa- 
tion, declared that the verdict at the second trial was 
unjust and that Dreyfus was innocent. 2 The parties 
which w T ere responsible for the government of the republic 
came through the Dreyfus affair with renewed prestige 
and strength. The republic had passed successfully 
through its third crisis. 

264. Church and State Before 1901. — Before the 
Dreyfus affair was settled, the government had another 
titanic struggle with its opponents, this time the clericals, 
whom Gambetta, in his radical days, had called " the 
enemy." During the nineteenth century the relations 
of the French government with the church in France were 
regulated by the Concordat of 1801, arranged by Napoleon 
and the Pope (§ 147) . This arrangement had survived 
numerous changes in the French government and had 
been quite satisfactory before the establishment of the 

1 The second trial was almost a repetition of the first, because the 
military court was afraid that a reversal of a verdict would be considered 
a reflection upon the army, but Dreyfus' punishment was lightened. 
This second trial, however, was the beginning of the real Dreyfus affair. 
An eminent novelist, Emile Zo-la', with wonderful enthusiasm, took 
up the cause of Dreyfus and made it the cause of the reform factions in 
France. 

2 Since the friends of Dreyfus and Picquart were now in power, they 
restored Dreyfus to the army with a rank of major, and they made him 
a member of the Legion of Honor ; and Picquart, first appointed a general, 
afterwards became minister of war. 



FRANCE UNDER REPUBLICAN RULE 



335 



Third Republic. 1 The controversy between Church and 
State was particularly connected with education. 2 

In order completely to secularize education in France, 
the " Associations Act" of 1901 declared that religious 
orders should exist in France only under government 
license, and that members of unauthorized religious bodies 
should not be permitted to teach in any schools, religious 
or secular. This law was enforced with extreme severity, 
with the result that comparatively few religious orders 
were authorized. In fact more than 10,000 church schools 
were closed, and many former clerical teachers left France. 
Three years later a second law was passed which provided 
that after ten years no religious schools should be per- 
mitted. 

265. Separation of Church and State. — In the mean- 
time the feeling was growing among' French politicians 
that Church and State must be separated. This feeling 
came to a head when in 1904 the president of France 
returned an official visit of the king of Italy. The Pope, 
who had never " recognized " the Italian kingdom (§ 240), 
protested, and diplomatic relations were severed. The 
ensuing controversy gave the French government a pre- 
text for annulling the Concordat of 1801, an agreement 
which should have been abrogated only with the consent 
of both parties. 



The Asso- 
ciations 
Act and 
closing of 
religious 
schools. 



Severance 
of relations 
between the 
republic and 
the papacy. 



1 After 1893, however, Pope Leo XIII urged the French clergy not 
to cling to lost causes, but to rally to the support of the French govern- 
ment. 

2 Before the French Revolution most of the school teachers were 
clergymen, and even the efforts of Napoleon to secularize education (§ 169) 
were not at all successful. During the last half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, moreover, the religious orders which were particularly interested 
in teaching had increased greatly in numbers and in wealth. As we 
noticed, under the leadership of Jules Ferry (§ 261 n. 2), there had been a 
strenuous and fairly successful campaign to make the schools more nu- 
merous and better, and to make education non-sectarian. This of 
course had aroused the serious opposition of the religious organizations. 



336 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Provisions 
of the 
separation 
law of 1905. 



Compromise 
laws and 



arrange- 
ments. 



France in 

northern 

Africa. 



The law of 1905 not only separated Church and State, 
but it provided that associations should be formed in each 
community or district, which should have control of all 
church buildings and other church properties and should 
arrange for the conduct of religious services. 1 

By later arrangements, however, provision was made 
that the actual use of the churches should be under the 
control of members of the Catholic church in each com- 
munity or district, especially in those places where associa- 
tions provided by the law of 1905 had not been separately 
organized. This compromise was another victory for the 
republic. 

266. The Expansion of France. — We have already 
noticed in Chapter IV that the French colonial empire, 
which promised to gain for France the finest basins of 
the North American continent and a large share of India, 
was absolutely destroyed in the commercial wars of the 
eighteenth century and in the Treaty of Paris, 1763 (§ 87). 
France did not venture again on colonial enterprises until 
about 1830. 2 After the ruler of Algiers had insulted the 
French consul, the French immediately began a series of 
campaigns which resulted in making Algeria into a French 
colony (§ 405) and really into a part of France. In 1881, 
largely through the influence of Bismarck (§418), the 
French acquired Tunis, which was desired by the Italians 
(§ 279), and after 1911 (§ 427) Morocco practically became 
a French protectorate. From the north and the west 
France expanded into the interior of Africa and developed 



1 All these changes were of course exceedingly objectionable to the 
Pope and to most clergymen. Although the government had formerly 
paid the salaries of all priests, thereafter compensation was granted 
only in the form of temporary pensions to clergymen who had served 
in a public capacity for about a quarter of a century. 

2 In Napoleon's time she had become interested in affairs in Egypt 
and had some share in the destinies of that country until she with- 
drew and left England to take entire control in 1882 (§ 376). 




WORLD COLONIAL EMPIRES 

Not including British and Russian possessions 

1914 

United States Germany France 



Netherlands 



Portugal 



FRANCE UNDER REPUBLICAN RULE 337 

in North Central Africa el magnificent colonial empire, 
which at one time threatened to involve her in difficulties 
with the English in the upper Nile valley (§ 406) . 

In southeastern Africa the French had gained a foot- Madagascar 
hold in Mad-a-gas'car, over which a French protectorate easte?n Ut " 
was established in 1895. The island was later made into a Asia, 
colony. In southeastern Asia the French acquired, under 
the Second Empire, control of the area known as Cochin- 
China. To this was added, under the ministry of Ferry, 1 
the neighboring area of Ton-kin'. 

We can see from this brief survey that within less than The new 
a century the French created a colonial empire in two of ^riai 
the continents of the Old World ; an empire of magnificent empire and 
extent, governing as it does an area more than half as ^ n ^ es a 1_ 
large again as the continental United States, and inhabited 
by a population greater than that of France before the 
Great War. As we shall see, under the guidance of her 
skillful foreign minister, Del-casse', France used her 
interest in African affairs to arrange in 1904 with Great 
Britain an understanding, known as the "'Entente 2 Cor- 
diale " (§ 423), which grew into the famous Triple Entente 
(§ 425). 

The New France 

267. Modern French Political Parties. — Although Difficulties 
France was so successful in carrying out her colonial ln u ,f mg a 

J ° parhamen- 

plans and in arranging " alliances " with other Powers, it tary system 
can easily be seen from the preceding sections that the ln France - 
course of French politics has not run very smoothly 
under the Third Republic. This has been caused, not 
by the republican form of government, but in large part 
by the attempt to use a parliamentary system like that 
of Great Britain, when the country has not had two large 
well developed political parties (§ 361). 

1 Ferry was called "the Tonkinese." 2 On-tont. 

z , 



338 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Method of 
seating 
members of 
a lower 
house on 
the Con- 
tinent. 



Following the continental plan those deputies who are 
most conservative sit upon the right of the presiding officer. 
In France the " Right " is made up of conservatives, in- 
cluding a very few monarchists. Between the conserva- 
tive " Right " and the radical " Left "are seated in the 
center of the chamber a large number of more or less 

liberal or moderate groups, 
no one of which has ever 
had a very large number 
of members. 

The ministries, of which 
France has had many, have 
depended as a rule upon 
a combination of these 
parties, usually from the 
center of the chamber. Be- 
tween 1900-1910, however, 
the ministries carried 
through their policy in op- 
position to the church and 
in favor of Dreyfus and 
army reorganization by a 
" bloc," or group of parties, 
from the center and left. Since the outbreak of the Great 
War, the government has had somewhat less difficulty, 
because patriotism has made it possible to unite most of 
the factions ; but changes of ministries have continued to 
occur with unfortunate frequency. Certainly, since the 
outbreak of the Great War, in the midst of hardships and 
privations, the French people have shown themselves 
noble, heroic, and united. Their wonderful morale since 
1914 may be considered the fifth great victory of the 
republic. 

268. Alsace-Lorraine. — The experience of Alsace- 
Lorraine explains to some extent why France and Europe 



Dependence $&& ^(jpfc 


'''i-'f 


of French 




ministries 




upon un- 




stable com- 




binations of 




parties. \^dtKk W" ^* i 





President Poincare 



THE NEW FRANCE 339 

oppose the extension of German authority in Europe. The larger 
Since 1871 the Alsace-Lorraine question has been a disturb- ^J e e m of 
ing element not alone among the French, but in general Lorraine. 
European affairs. For more than a half century it has 
been customary among civilized peoples to make no 
annexations of territories in Europe without the consent 
of the people of the territory transferred from one country 
to another. 1 The Prussians had not before, nor have they 
since, observed this usage of nations. 2 In its larger as- 
pects, the Alsace-Lorraine question is therefore a problem 
of the right of a conquering country to settle a problem of 
territory and of nationality by force without the consent 
of the people who are transferred or of other interested 
parties. 

In its narrow aspect, the Alsace-Lorraine question in- Political, 
volves three elements, the military and the political, the J™}*^. 
economic, and the social. (1) One object of the Franco- nomic prob- 
German war was to secure for Germany a boundary more 
easily defended than was the upper Rhine. By possession 
of the forts around Metz, Germany expected to control the 
gap between the Vosges (Vozh) mountains and the Ardennes 
(Ar-den') mountains. (2) Even in 1871 the Germans 
desired Lorraine because of its rich deposits of iron and its 
coal beds. Before the Great War most of the iron ore 
produced in the German Empire came from the provinces 
torn from France. It is small wonder that the Germans 
wanted to have, and now want to keep, territory so 

1 See § 239. In 1859 the French took a plebiscite before annexing 
Savoy. 

2 As the delegates from Alsace-Lorraine protested in the German 
Reichstag, at the time of their admission in 1874, "If, in times remote 
and comparatively barbarous, the right of conquest has sometimes been 
transformed into effective right; if, even to-day, it is upon ignorant 
and savage peoples, nothing of this sort can be applied to Alsace- 
Lorraine. It is at the end of the nineteenth century, of a century of 
light and progress, that Germany conquers us, . . . has reduced us to 
slaverv." 



lems. 



340 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



valuable. If they had known of the rich supplies of iron 
still farther west and north, they would not have been so 
moderate in their demands for territory in 1871. 

(3) The social and racial problem is one of very great 
interest. The Germans maintain that Alsace and Lor- 
raine were formerly parts of the Holy Roman Empire and 
were therefore " German/' but even Germany proves 
they are not, for since 1871 they have been treated as 
conquered territory. 1 The people of the provinces are not 
in any true sense Teutonic, and in 1871 in language, 
culture, and interests, practically all of the million and a 
half Alsatians and Lorrainers were French. In a half 
century the severe methods used by Germany to make the 
provinces really German have not destroyed the influ- 
ence of France before 1871. When a Prussian officer at 
Sa-verne 2 in 1913 made an unprovoked attack upon a lame 
cobbler, absolutely unarmed, he typified the attitude of 
the Germans toward the provinces and toward all peoples 
who stand in their way. In Alsace-Lorraine and elsewhere 
Germany has lived up to her faith that might makes 
right, but in Alsace-Lorraine and elsewhere France and 
the rest of the world have thought otherwise. 

269. Land and People. — Without Alsace-Lorraine, 
France has an area three fourths that of the state of 
Texas, and somewhat smaller than that of Germany before 
the Great War. Her population has never exceeded 
40,000,000, considerably less than two thirds that of the 
German Empire in 1910. A large part of her land is 

1 Before 1911 they sent no representative to the German Bundesrath, 
and their fifteen members in the Reichstag have only limited power. 
Not until 1911 did the people of these provinces have any real self-gov- 
ernment. 

2 Since 1911 there has been more friction between the army and the 
people. For example, at Saverne in 1913 a trouble between an upstart 
lieutenant and the populace caused so much trouble that the matter was 
brought before the Reichstag, but the right of the army to do about as 
it pleased was admitted if not upheld. 



THE NEW FRANCE 341 

suitable for agriculture, on which the majority of the 
people depend for a living. There are some forests, 
particularly in the southwestern part. A few deposits of 
coal and iron are to be found in southern France and in 
the western part of the country; far more valuable are 
those in the northeast, on the borders of Germany, 
Luxemburg, and Belgium. 

Unlike England and Germany, France is not a country city and 
of great cities. Before the war Paris had about 3,000,000 £^ ntry 
inhabitants ; but, aside from Paris, Marseilles and Lyons 
were the only large French cities. The small cities were 
numerous, but in general they were old and have grown 
very slowly, even during the last half century. Most of 
the people in France therefore live in the country. 

These French people are among the most patient, Difference 
industrious, and thrifty to be found anywhere in the world. between 

. character 

Formerly they had a reputation for frivolity and fickleness ; and reputa- 
but it undoubtedly arose from superficial observations of Jj on °* the 
travelers who were but slightly acquainted with the people, 
boulevards of the capital, or from equally superficial 
studies of historians, to whom the frequent changes in 
French cabinets were proof that the French did not know 
their own minds. 

270. Occupations. — As explained in 202, about half Agricultural 
of the men of France own farms. Of necessity most farms pro uc ' 
are small. Among agricultural products, wheat, wine, and 
potatoes occupy a prominent place. For its size the coun- 
try is one of the famous wheat-growing areas of the world. 1 
On the slopes of her river valleys, notably the Meuse 
(Mus), and the Mo-selle' in northeastern France, the 
Ga-ronne' in the southwest, and the Rhone in the south, 

1 In fact, during a large part of her history, France has exported 
considerable quantities of wheat. During the twentieth century, how- 
ever, she imported, for the use of people in some sections, as much as 
other sections sent to foreign countries. 



342 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Manu- 
factures. 
Industrial 
centers and 
districts. 



Evidences 
and value of 
French 
thrift. 



there are extensive vineyards, from the grapes of which 
very fine wines have been made. 1 

For the skill of her hand workers France has always 
been famous. Even after the industrial revolution 
introduced machinery and power for the manufacture of 
goods, her artisans specialized in fine work, preferring 




The Bourse, Paris 

quality to quantity. Yet some centers are also famous 
for the volume of their manufactures. 

271. The Banker of Europe. — The Middle Ages had 
very little free capital for investment in industries, even 
on a small scale. From the time of the Fuggers and 
Jacques Cceur 2 the amount of capital increased somewhat, 
particularly after the industrial revolution began to create 
enough wealth to leave a real surplus. Even then, 

1 The wine of the region around Reims and Verdun, matured in 
the grottoes of that limestone region, took its name champagne from the 
old county in which most of the grapes are grown. 

2 E. E. C, §§ 660-661. 



THE NEW FRANCE 343 

France did not have the amount of capital which England 
possessed ; for she was obliged to depend upon the savings 
of her thrifty and fairly prosperous farmers. Within two 
years after the close of the Franco-Prussian War the loans 
of these savings by the people made it possible to pay the 
huge German indemnity of a billion dollars (§ 254) . The 
thrift of which this gave evidence has been a character- 
istic of most Frenchmen during the last century. Where 
other nations have devoted their attention to large-scale 
industry and to the creation of great quantities of raw 
materials or finished products, the French nation has gone 
on in its own quiet, unobtrusive way, producing and saving, 
a little at a time, but an immense quantity in the aggregate. 

Among the investments which these thrifty peasants and French 
other Frenchmen made outside of France is the purchase lc !t. ns - and 

r m other m- 

of bonds of foreign governments. 1 In addition, they in- vestments. 
vested a large sum in foreign stocks, some in Russia, some 
in Germany, some in Great Britain, some in America, 
and a very large amount indeed in the African colonies of 
France. It is probable that the total amount of the 
foreign holdings or investments of the French people 
before 1914 amounted to nearly ten billion dollars. 

272. Social Reform. — In some respects more progres- Pioneer 
sive than any other European peoples, in others the ^ °* ^ £ f the 
French have been considerably more conservative, protective 
Although France had a law for the protection of women le g lslatlon - 
and children in mines thirty years before any other 
country in Europe (§ 213), and although laws for the benefit 
of workingmen were passed under the Second Empire 
(§ 249) years before Bismarck instituted a more com- 
prehensive system of protective labor legislation in Ger- 

1 Chief among these are the loans made to Russia since the formation 
of the Dual Alliance in 1891 (§ 422). The total loans made by French 
people to the Russian government have amounted to more than two 
billion dollars, 



344 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



many (§ 296), nevertheless modern French laws for the 
protection of workers do not go so far as those of either 
Great Britain or Germany. 

In a great many instances the French have depended' 
upon voluntary organization for reforms which in other 
countries, including the United States, have been under- 
taken by the governments ( § § 486^19 1 ) . Insurance against 
accidents is handled by voluntary organizations of work- 
men, as is insurance against sickness. On the other hand, 
the state bears the burden of a system of old age pensions 
for all those poor but worthy persons over seventy years 
of age who need public help. 

273. Characteristics and Spirit. — France has been 
noted in recent years for the slow growth of her population. 
This is easily explained : most French families are land- 
owners, and the income from each small farm is not 
sufficient to maintain a high standard of living for a large 
family. Among people of the upper class there is a 
laudable desire to give a high school education to every 
son, and whenever possible to prepare a son for a govern- 
ment position. At the death of the parents, if there were 
a large number of children, it would be necessary to sub- 
divide and re-subdivide farms that are already rather 
small, too tiny for the proper support of many persons. 1 

The admiration of the world was aroused by the ability 
shown by the French during the first year of the war to face 
with courage and without loss of spirit an enemy that 
broke far into their country. We have been amazed by 
the readiness of the French women, formerly sheltered 
and protected, to take up the work of the men who have 
been called to the front. Cheerfully and without complaint 
they have gone as workers into shop or street car ; very 
frequently they have done the heavy work in the fields. 

1 The French methods of arranging marriages through parents would 
not appeal to Americans, but it seems to have worked well in France. 



ITALY 345 

The French excel in the fine arts ; for that reason French 
they have been for centuries leaders in styles and in the J^fhTfine 
social graces. In art, in literature, and in science they arts, 
have made notable contributions. Possibly the French 
Academy of forty immortals is the most distinguished 
body of men in the world to-day. The leadership of those 
Frenchmen in the refinements of life is typical of France's 
position among the nations. 

Italy since 1870 

274. The Government of Italy. — Southeast of France, Italy as 
and associated with her because of similarities of race, a Power - 
language, religion, civilization, and general interests, 
" beyond the Alps," lies Italy. Although only a half 
century old, the modern Italian kingdom is treated as one 
of the Great Powers. This position she has maintained, 
however, with considerable difficulty, because in popula- 
tion, and particularly in wealth and resources, she is 
outranked by all other members of the great alliances. 

Outwardly at least the government of Italy resembles The Italian 
that of Great Britain. Nominally, the king possesses very g^JJj^ and 
great power ; actually, he has comparatively little share in 
the government of the country. He appoints a premier 
and other ministers who exercise considerable influence 
and are responsible not to him but to the parliament, 
that is, to the Chamber of Deputies or lower house. He 
also appoints, for life, members of the Senate or upper 
chamber of the Italian parliament. The Italian cabinet 
does not have as much authority as the British ministry 
(§ 361), after which it is modeled, and the Senate may be 
compared rather closely with the House of Lords, which 
in recent years has lost most of its old influence. 

Italy is governed to a very large extent by the Chamber of The lower 
Deputies, a body of about five hundred members, elected i^if an 
for a period of not more than five years by all men over parliament. 



346 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Difficulties 
in maintain- 
ing minis- 
tries. 



Politicians 
and Crispi 
the impe- 
rialist. 



thirty, in addition to those between twenty-one and 
thirty who have served in the army, or who can read or 
write. 

Since the unification of Italy, there have been a large 
number of political parties or factions. In consequence 
ministerial government in Italy has shown the same 
characteristics as in France (§ 260). It has been very 
easy in Italy, as in France, to overturn any ministry; 
it has been more difficult to continue one in power, 
chiefly because there have been, not two well-organized 
parties, but many distinct factions. 

275. Problems and Politics. — The political history of 
Italy since unification in 1871 does not present many events 

of particular interest to for- 
eigners. One is impressed, of 
course, with the fact that a 
kingdom created within so 
few years out of so many 
separate states has really 
succeeded in remaining united 
and carrying out a unified 
policy, without the use of the 
army or any other form of 
force. In the early years of 
the kingdom its politics and 
policies were controlled by a 
group of rather conservative 
statesmen from the Po val- 
ley, but since 1876 the more 
radical politicians, most of whom have come from southern 
Italy, have been more often in power. 1 Although each 

1 Before Crispi's time De-pre'tis had shown that it was possible to 
hold together ministries supported by political groups or factions, but 
he did this through wholesale bribery and misuse of political influence 
more disgraceful than that employed a century and a half earlier by the 
first real prime minister of England, Walpole (§ 42). After Crispi's time, 





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Crispi 



ITALY 347 

of these leaders directed the destinies of Italy for a period 
of about ten years, only one name need be remembered, 
that of Cris'pi, a warm-blooded and capable politician. 
Crispi was chiefly noted for his interest in the Triple' 
Alliance (§ 418) with Germany and Austria, and for his 
imperialist ideas. He was exceedingly anxious that Italy 
should become a great colonizing power. 

276. The Quirinal and the Vatican. — On the twentieth Seizure of 
of September, 1870, a few weeks after the French troops t JL,orai S 
were withdrawn from the Papal States (§ 240) , the Italian possessions 
forces entered Rome. The Pope not only protested jjj^ 
against this seizure of his territories, but he shut himself king. 
up in his palaces and held himself as the " prisoner of 
the Vatican." l He called upon Catholic rulers to free 
him from the oppressor ; furthermore, he insisted that no 
Catholic prince should ever visit the king of Italy, so long 
as the Italian monarch kept the temporal possessions of the 
Holy See. Ambassadors were sent to, and received from, 
all Catholic princes except the King of Italy. 

Under the conservative rule of Pius IX, and even under Differences 
his distinguished successor, Leo XIII, a Catholic in good i^^nd 
and regular standing was not allowed to take active part, the papacy. 
as voter or officeholder, in the Italian government. In 
1905, after Pius X became Pope, this prohibition was 
removed, but cordial relations between the kingdom and 
the papacy were not established. 

It is natural that the Pope should find his chief inter- 

and during most of the years of the twentieth century, the affairs of 
Italy were directed by an adroit politician, Giolitti (Zhi-o-lit'ti) . 

1 The Italian Parliament proceeded to pass an act, called the "Law 
of Papal Guarantees," which recognized the Pope as a sovereign prince. 
That law stated what powers could rightfully be exercised by the Pope 
as a sovereign. It provided that a sum of money, about $650,000 a 
year, should be paid by the Italian government to the papacy as a sub- 
stitute for the revenues which the Pope would have had from lands taken 
from him by the Italians. The Pope has always refused to accept any 
part of this sum. 



348 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




Pope Leo XIII 



national friend in the ruler of that Catholic country 
which was most hostile to Italy; but the Holy See has 

always sought to occupy in 
international controversies 
a disinterested position 
which would give it oppor- 
tunity to use its unexam- 
pled moral prestige on the 
side of peace, justice, and 
right. Especially during 
the pontificate of Leo XIII 
(1878-1903) the papacy 
wielded a great international 
moral influence. 

277. Natural Resources 
and Agriculture. — The area 
of Italy is about two thirds 
that of the State of Cali- 
fornia. 1 Like that state, it possesses several mountain 
ranges which reduce greatly the amount of desirable agri- 
cultural land. Outside of the fertile Po basin and a few 
other river valleys, Italy is not well adapted to ordinary 
agriculture, although the sunny hillslopes are suitable for 
the growth of the vine. Italy has always been famous 
for her vineyards. Because of the mountains and 
numerous streams, there is a great amount of undeveloped 

1 The population of Italy is more than one third that of the United 
States. Since food land is relatively scarce, and large industrial cities 
are not numerous, the people are forced to work hard for a living, and 
Italy has devoted herself to the raising of those crops which require 
labor rather than land. Sixty per cent of the people before the Great 
War depended upon agriculture for a living, but of these only three or 
four hundred thousand cultivated farms of their own ; the others were 
tenants, or, far more frequently, laborers in the vineyards or on the 
extensive plantations of wealthy land owners. These large estates 
may be compared with the "Latifundia" of the later Roman Empire 
(E. E. C, §409). 



ITALY 349 

waterpower, but the deposits of coal and iron and other 
minerals are neither numerous nor large. 

Wheat is by far the most important single crop of the Different 
country, although maize or Indian corn is grown in large ^^ts™ 1 
quantities. In fact, in some parts of Italy the people 
depend upon corn rather than upon wheat for food. A 
fair percentage of the wheat is made up into favorite 
Italian dishes, such as macaroni and spaghetti. Italian 
agriculture is not progressive or remarkably successful, as 
the yield per acre is not much more than one third that 
of Belgium or Great Britain, and considerably less than 
half that of Germany ; it is about the same as that of 
Hungary. Aside from cereals, wine is the most important 
single product, although olive oil is important, and Sicilian 
lemons have been fairly successful in the years they 
have been able to meet the competition of those from 
California. 

278. Industrial Development and Taxation. — During Retarded 
the last three decades of the nineteenth century, slight ^ekT^ 1 
progress was made by Italy either in manufactures or ment. 
trade. The industrial development is far more marked 
in the north than in the south ; for example, even before 
1910 Milan had distanced Lyons and had become the chief 
silk-manufacturing center of the world. In the north, 
cotton manufactures also developed very extensively. 

Foreign trade, which had not prospered particularly Growth of 
before 1900, grew by leaps and bounds during the early iove ^ n . 
years of the twentieth century. This was due in part to 1900. 
the revival of trade with France, with whom a favorable 
commercial treaty was made through the influence of the 
great French foreign minister, Delcasse. 

Italy is poor compared with many of the other great Problems of 
Powers, and her national wealth and income are limited ; finance . and 

migration. 

but she was expected to maintain a large army and navy 
for the Triple Alliance (418), in addition to the necessary 



350 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



expenses of internal government. It was therefore neces- 
sary to levy heavy taxes which frequently took from one 
fifth to one half of the total produce of the soil. This 
heavy taxation, coupled with the rapid increase in the 
population, has been partly responsible for the extensive 
emigration from Italy to other countries, particularly to 
the United States and Argentina. 1 

279. Foreign Affairs. — In this connection we need 
mention only a few changes in Italian foreign policies, 
because they are treated at greater length elsewhere. In 
1882 Italy found herself quite isolated ; gladly she re- 
newed her friendship with Prussia, and of necessity made 
peace with her old enemy Austria, by joining the Triple 
Alliance. She remained a member of the alliance until 
1915. It gave her powerful friends, but it left her with 
heavy debts. 

Her imperialist plans, fostered particularly by Crispi, 
would have included Tunis if that state had not been 
seized by the French before the Italians were ready for 
colonial expansion (§ 404) . It did lead the Italians to seek 
colonies on the south end of the Red Sea and still farther 
south in So-ma'li-land, colonies which they had hoped to 
extend inland over the fertile plateaus of Ab-ysrsin'i-a. 2 

In 1911 the Italians proceeded to make war upon 
Turkey with the avowed intention of acquiring Tripoli 
and Cy-re-na'i-ca. They gained those two Turkish prov- 
inces, and temporarily held some iEgean Islands and re- 
tained a foothold on the south coast of Asia Minor. 






1 Although the gross emigration amounted in one year to nearly 
eight hundred thousand, about half of the Italian emigrants usually 
return to the home country with the profits of a season in Argentina or 
from a few years in the United States. Consequently most of the Ital- 
ians in the United States have located in cities of the northeastern 
coast states. 

2 These plans were wrecked by the overwhelming defeat of the Italian 
forces at A'do-wa by Men'e-lek, king of Abyssinia, in 189G, 



ITALY 351 

280. Some Present Problems. — One of Italy's prob- The prob- 
lems grows out of the radical differences between the North ^™ t ^ 
and the South. The North is well developed and eco- South, 
nomically fairly rich and prosperous, but the South is 
poorer and less orderly, and is inhabited by a race quite 
different from the people of the North. The union of 
these two dissimilar sections, with their different tempera- 
ments, interests, and outlooks, has been and will continue 
to be a serious problem. 

When Italy was united, three quarters of her people illiteracy 
could not read and write ; at the present time only half ^ d n ^7 . 
of the Italians are illiterate, and not more than one third laws. 
of the men are unable to read and write. The great 
preponderance of illiteracy is in the South, where the 
schools are inferior. The government of the communes 
or local districts provides primary education, but the law 
insists upon only three years' attendance and it is very 
laxly inforced. 1 

One of the most interesting and important problems 
of Italy is that embraced in the phrase "Italia irredenta,''' 
or unredeemed Italy. In 1866, w T hen Venetia was added of the 
to the kingdom (§ 240), Austria did not give up her hold on Adnatlc - 
the upper valleys of the A'di-ge river, known as the Tren- 
ti'no. This she still holds. Besides the Italians living in 
the Trentino there are a great many, possibly a million 
or more, to be found in Is'tri-a and Dal-ma'tia or other 
provinces on the northern or eastern shores of the Adriatic. 
Italy feels that she must regain these alien territories 
which are still inhabited by Italians. She believes also 
that her national success depends upon her real control 
of the Adriatic Sea. She therefore desires control of 
Albania in the Balkan region, and of most if not all of the 

1 There are no proper means for the preparation of teachers, and conse- 
quently the instruction given in these schools is chiefly of an inferior 
type. There are some private schools attended by girls. 



352 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



excellent harbors on the east Adriatic coast north of Al- 
bania. 

Italy did not enter the Great War until near the end 
of the first year of conflict, partly because she had been 
allied with Germany and Austria and was unwilling to 
fight with them against the Entente Allies, partly because 
she was not ready, and partly because in the war she 
wished first and foremost to regain " Italia irredenta " 
and secure control of the east Adriatic shore. Even 
after she made war on Austria, she did not ally herself 
with the Entente Powers ; to a large extent before 
December, 1917 (§ 442), she played a lone hand in the war 
game of chance, although in 1915 she signed the " Pact 
of London " and agreed not to make peace until the other 
enemies of Germany were ready. 

Holland and Belgium 

281. Holland in the Nineteenth Century. — Most of 
us will recall l that soon after the Reformation, the 
Dutch people, most of whom were Protestants, revolted 
against the narrow religious policy and unjust taxes and 
commercial measures of the Spanish government, to which 
all the provinces of the Netherlands previously belonged. 
In 1648 the independence of the Dutch Republic was 
acknowledged in the Peace of Westphalia. 2 During the 
French Revolution and the Napoleonic era many changes 
occurred in the Netherlands, and most of the time the 
Dutch and Belgian Netherlands were closely allied with 
France. 

After the overthrow of Napoleon, the Congress of 
Vienna sought to compensate Holland for the numerous 
Dutch colonies which had been seized and retained by 
Great Britain (§ 171), by uniting under the king of Holland 
the whole of the Netherlands, Belgian as well as Dutch. By 

i E. E. C, §§ 694-696. * E. E. C, § 707. 




Lopgitud- 



MED l\T E R R A N E A 

Lopgitude East from 



DUTCH NETHERLANDS 353 

the Treaty of 1815, not only was the independence of the new 
kingdom of the Netherlands guaranteed by the five great 
European Powers, but for the first time the neutrality of a 
small kingdom with powerful neighbors was also guaran- 
teed. 

After the separation of Belgium in 1830 (§ 283) , the Dutch Economic 
prospered, as their foreign commerce continued to grow. At 
the time of the revolutionary movement of 1848 (§§ 218- 
225), the Dutch people forced their king to grant them a 
new constitution. This document gave them a States-Gen- 
eral chosen entirely by themselves, and gave to the States- 
General some real power in legislation as well as taxation. 
Furthermore, it made the king's ministers responsible to 
the parliament. Very little was done, however, at that 
time to extend the franchise to the common people. The 
suffrage laws passed in the late nineteenth century were 
somewhat more liberal, but even at the present time nearly 
half of the men of Holland are without the right to vote. 

282. Holland in Recent Years. — Under the rule since Holland and 
1890 of her present exceedingly popular queen, Wilhelmina, e mpire° ma 
Holland has made progress. 1 At the beginning of the 
Great War, the possessions of the Dutch Netherlands 
included, in addition to the area we call Holland, which 
has more than six million inhabitants, an extensive colonial 
empire. Many colonies were in the East Indies, including 
the large island of Java, and the subject population was 
about three quarters that of the colonial empire of France. 

The location of Holland has made her an important Theprob- 
f actor, although not an active participant, in the Great iand°in the 
War. Before war broke out, Holland had reorganized Great War. 
her military forces ; since that time she has been willing, 

1 In 1815 the kingdom of Holland was united with the Grand Duchy 
of Luxemburg, south of Belgium. However, when the present queen, 
Wilhelmina, came to the throne, Luxemburg was separated from Hol- 
land and has since been ruled by her own dukes and duchesses. 
2a 



354 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



f 


- : ■ ■" ' 






f ^' ""- 


' 







so far as the Allies permit, to furnish foodstuffs and 
other materials which the Germans need. Her position 

has at no time been an en- 
viable one, because it has 
been practically impossible 
to maintain strict neutrality. 
In fact, neutrality such as is 
desired by the Allies would 
of necessity give offense to 
the Germans, and neutrality 
which would be satisfactory 
to Germany would be con- 
strued by the Allies to be 
cooperation with Germany. 

283. The Independence of 
Belgium. — The union of 
Belgium with the Dutch 
Netherlands lasted only from 
1815 until 1830. The reasons 
for this were numerous. 1 The two peoples had little in 
common, since the Belgians are Catholics, speak French 
or Flemish, and are interested in agriculture and industry 
rather than in fishing and commerce. In spite of the fact 
that the Belgians had more than sixty per cent of the 
people, they selected only half the members of the new 
parliament ; and the king, a prince of the Dutch house 
of Orange, was able to carry through many measures 
which were particularly favorable to the Dutch people. 
The Belgians were especially aroused by an attempt in 
1822 to make Dutch the official language of the whole 
kingdom. 

In 1830 they took advantage of the disorder created by 
the revolution in France (§216) to protest vigorously 
against Dutch rule. After several months of controversy, 
i E. E. c, § 694. 



Queen Wilhelmina 



BELGIUM 355 

they declared their independence of Holland. Twice a independ- 
Dutch army failed to subdue the Belgian provinces, a and^u- 30 '' 
feat which would have been accomplished but for foreign trality 
intervention. In fact, Russia and Prussia wanted to come jo^ 3 ;^ 
to the help of the Dutch in order to maintain the treaty 
arrangement of 1815, but France and England objected. 
With the help of French armies the Dutch were driven 
back and Belgium's independence was established. In 
1839 her independence was admitted by Holland, and the 
same year Belgian neutrality was guaranteed by treaty 
agreements of the five great Powers, including Austria and 
Prussia. 

284. The Problem of Belgium before the Great War. — Industries, 
Unlike Holland, Belgium contains large deposits of coal ^romT' 
and some iron. In consequence an industrial district has merce. 
grown up in the central and southeastern part of the 
country. Liege (Li-azh') is the best known of the manu- 
facturing centers. Since, however, Belgium has a large 
amount of fertile soil, her people very wisely have 
specialized in agriculture of an intensive type, that is, in 
the cultivation on small farms of fruits and vegetables 
and other crops. In this way Belgium has been able to 
feed a population considerably larger than that of Hol- 
land, on a somewhat smaller area. 1 She has been able 
also to develop a very large foreign commerce, much of 
which she has carried on for the use of her own people, 
but nearly half of which, largely through the port of Ant- 
werp, has consisted in the transportation of goods between 
the Rhine valley and the outside world. 

As Antwerp and other Belgian coast towns have been The menace 
particularly desired by the commercial classes of west ^foreTgiT 
Germany, Belgium has occupied a position of danger 
between the countries of the two great alliances. Because 
of the fear that she might be invaded by Germany, she 

1 Before 1914 the food importations, however, exceeded food exports. 



356 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Part of 
heroic 
little 
Belgium 



erected a series of powerful fortresses close by her finest 
industrial district, notably at Liege. In addition, she 
began before the Great War to reorganize her army in 
order that she might be in a better position to safeguard 
her independence and to maintain her neutrality. Know- 
ing that Germany had made plans for a possible invasion 
of Belgium in case of a general war, 1 she consulted with 
British and French statesmen regarding means by which 
she could maintain her territorial integrity. 

285. Belgium and the Great War. — It is impossible 
in a single paragraph to estimate the part played by heroic 

little Belgium in 
the Great War. 
Most people recall 
those terrible first 
weeks in which 
the German drive 
through Belgium 
on Paris (§ 438) 
was delayed by 
the small Belgian 
army and by the 
siege, for several 
days, of Liege and 
Na-mur', thereby 
giving the French 
and English forces 
an opportunity to 
mobilize. The rapid movements of the Germans, and 
the technical skill of their engineers and artillerymen, 

1 Belgium was not only coveted by the Germans because she would 
be an advantage to them commercially, but also because she controlled 
an immense area in the center of the African continent (§ 403). If 
the Germans could have acquired this Belgian Congo, they would 
have united their colonies, that is, the colony of German East Africa 
on the Indian Ocean with that of the Kamerun on the Atlantic coast. 




Underwood and Underwood 
King Albert of Belgium 



BELGIUM 357 

enabled them to conquer the country with but little 
delay, forcing the Belgian king, Albert, and his armies 
to seek shelter in northern France. 

The Belgian population was aroused to frenzy by the Belgian 
brutality of German invaders, and by the excesses and losses - 
atrocities which make one of the most unpleasant chapters 
in modern European history. Among the burdens thrust 
upon Belgium were the indemnities placed upon cities 
and communities which had the temerity to oppose the 
German invaders. The least of her losses was the 
deportation of men into Germany. During these terrible 
years a praiseworthy attempt was made by the Belgians, 
the American people, and the Allies to keep the civilian 
population of the country from actual starvation. The 
story of Belgium in relation to the Great War belongs, of 
course, not to Belgian history but to that of Europe. 1 

286. Summary. — Organized after Sedan (§ 254), the Organiza- 
Third French Republic in 1871 made peace with Germany tion and . 

r _ > r , J government 

and overthrew with terrible bloodshed the Paris com- of the Third 
mune, which wished to be practically independent of the ^^lic 
French government. Some years later, France organized 
a republican constitution, which provided for a govern- 
ment with president, responsible ministry, a Senate, later 
elected entirely by popular vote, and a Chamber of 
Deputies, somewhat similar to the English House of 
Commons. 

The creation of the French republic was a long, slow, Experience 
difficult process. The first president was really a mon- under re ~ 

^ ^ J publican 

archist, and the Senate at first was non-republican in char- rule (1879- 
acter. In time both of these became a real part of the 1914 >- 
French republic, but the enemies of the government were 
numerous and active. Besides the royalists and clericals, 
there was a discontented army group which supported 
Boulanger, but he failed them in the crisis. Later, the 

1 See Chapter XXII. 



358 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

enemies of the republic fought out the Dreyfus affair, 
but when Dreyfus was finally acquitted in the third trial, 
the republicans triumphed over all their foes. One of 
the greatest difficulties of the French government arose 
out of the church question. It was settled by limiting 
the field of church schools, and by the separation of Church 
and State. During the last part of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, France acquired a large colonial empire in northern, 
western, and central Africa, and in southeastern Asia. 
Since the outbreak of the Great War, the French people 
have proved themselves united ; they have won the 
admiration of the world by the spirit with which they have 
overcome difficulties and have met all dangers. 
The new France does not have two great parties, and numerous 

France. changes in cabinets have given the erroneous impression 

that the French parliamentary system is a failure. Her 
most acute international problem has been that of Alsace- 
Lorraine. The French are preeminently devoted to 
agriculture, to hand industries, and to those forms of 
manufacture which require skill and taste. They are a 
patient, hard-working people who are anxious to maintain 
good standards of living. Because of their extraordinary 
thrift, they have made large investments at home and 
abroad, in the bonds of other countries and in stable 
business enterprises, especially in French colonies. 
Italy. Italy is ruled by a king and parliament. The upper 

house is made up of nobles, and the lower of deputies 
elected by popular vote. Italy has " responsible govern- 
ment/' and her greatest statesman after 1871 was Crispi, 
the imperialist. The problem of the relations of the Italian 
government to the papacy has been serious, but a fairly 
generous spirit now prevails, although the Pope is still 
the " prisoner of the Vatican." Italy does not have a 
large amount of arable land, but she has a vast number 
of hard-working peasants. She, therefore, raises large 



FRANCE, ITALY, AND NETHERLANDS 359 

quantities of wheat and Indian corn, and from her hillside 
vineyards produces great quantities of wine. Italy joined 
the Triple Alliance largely for the purpose of protecting 
herself at home and abroad. She has gained in Africa 
several colonies, notably Tripoli. Italy did not enter the 
Great War until 1915 ; she is anxious to get back her un- 
redeemed territory, and desires to control the Adriatic. 

The Congress of Vienna created a greater Holland, includ- 
ing Belgium, but in 1830 Belgium gained her independence. 
The political development of Holland has been slow but 
continuous. In 1848 she obtained a constitution, and later 
the elective franchise was extended somewhat. Holland 
has not yet, September, 1918, been drawn into the Great 
War, but she is in continual difficulties on account of her 
location on the border of Germany and across the narrow 
edge of the North Sea from England. The independence 
and neutrality of Belgium were recognized by five powers : 
Great Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. 
Because she is the youngest and smallest of the neutral 
nations in the disputed strip of the Rhine valley, she 
has been exposed to dangers from her near neighbors, 
especially Germany. Since the fourth day of August, 
1914, the story of Belgium has been a record of invasion, 
violence, and outrage, which has won her the sympathy of 
the world. 

General References 

Hazen, Modern European History, 384-415, 522-526. 

Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, 
II, 131-141, 208-238. 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 
331-378, 389-396, 439-442. 

Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 181/ f , 187-256, 
361-372. 

Andrews, Historical Development of Modern Europe, II, 343- 
367, 391-414. 

Cambridge Modern History, XII, 91-133, 213-256. 



360 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Ogg, Governments of Europe, 301-403, 517-551. 
Lowell, The Governments of France, Italy, and Germany. 

Wright, History of the Third French Re-puhlic. 

Bracq, France under the Third Republic. 

Guerard, French Civilization in the Nineteenth Century. 

Poineare, How France is Governed. 

Lynch, French Life in Town and Country. 

Barker, France of the French. 

Underwood, United Italy. 
Wallace, Greater Italy. 
King and Okey, Italy To-day. 
Zimmern, Italy of the Italians. 

Rowntree, Land and Labor. 

Ensor, Belgium. 

Boulger, Belgium of the Belgians. 

Boulger, Belgian Life in Town and Country. 

Boulger, Holland of the Dutch. 



Topics 

The Terrible Year (1870-1871): Hazen, Modern Euro- 
pean History, 357-360, 384-387 ; Seignobos, Political History 
of Europe since 181/+, 187-194; Guerard, French Civilization 
in the Nineteenth Century, 150-159 ; Wright, History of the 
Third French Republic, 11-42. 

Parliamentary Rule in France : Poineare, How France 
is Governed, 185-204 ; Ogg, Governments of Europe, 311-315, 325- 
334 ; Lowell, Governments of France, Italy, and Germ,any. 

The Dreyfus Affair : Hayes, Political and Social History 
of Modern Europe, II, 354-357 ; Guerard, French Civilization 
in the Nineteenth Century, 169-172 ; Hazen, Modern European 
History, 396-400. 

Alsace-Lorraine : Gibbons, The New Map of Europe, 
1-20 ; Ogg, Governments of Europe, 282-287 ; Fife, German 
Empire between Two Wars, 217-233 ; Hazen, Alsace-Lorraine 
under German Rule. 

Economic Conditions and Development in Italy: Wal- 
lace, Greater Italy, 141-158 ; Zimmern, Italy of the Italians, 220- 
235 ; Underwood, United Italy, 194-207 ; King and Okey, Italy 
To-day, 143-164. 



FRANCE, ITALY, AND NETHERLANDS 361 

Studies 

1. The Chambord fiasco. Wright, History of the Third 
French Republic, 50-56. 

2. Policies of the French bourgeoisie republic before 1895. 
Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 345- 
352. 

3. Church and State in France. Hayes, Political and Social 
History of Modern Europe, II, 357-361. 

4. Expansion of France. Hazen, Modern European History, 
403-408. 

5. French political parties. Hayes, Political and Social 
History of Modern Europe, II, 361-367. 

6. The French constitution and parliament. Ogg, Govern- 
ments of Europe, 304-307, 315-319. 

7. The ministers. Poincare, How France is Governed, 185- 
204. 

8. French commerce and wealth. Bracq, France under the 
Third Republic, 56-73. 

9. The banker of Europe. Ogg, Social Progress in Contem- 
porary Europe, 317-323. 

10. Socialism and syndicalism in France. Guerard, French 
Civilization in the Nineteenth Century, 205-218. 

11. French family life. Barker, France of the French, 6-25. 

12. Quirinal and Vatican. Wallace, Greater Italy, 159-183. 

13. Mafia and lynch law. Garlanda, The New Italy, 267- 
277. 

14. Italian music. Underwood, United Italy, 334-340. 

15. A century of Dutch political development. Ogg, Govern- 
ments of Europe, 517-523. 

16. Holland's colonial empire. Boulger, Holland of the 
Dutch, 99-109. 

17. National characteristics of the Dutch. Boulger, Holland 
of the Dutch, 236-246. 

18. Characteristics of the Belgians. Ensor, Belgium., 40-64. 

19. Social conditions and agencies in Belgium. Ensor, 
Belgium, 195-221. 

20. Belgian home industries. Rowntree, Land and Labor, 88- 
100. 

Questions 

1. What circumstances led to the organization of the Third 
French Republic? Compare them with those that produced 



362 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

the First and Second Republics. What problem arose in con- 
nection with the commune, and how was it solved ? 

2. What groups of monarchists were there, and who was the 
leader of each? Explain why neither the Count of Paris nor 
the Count of Chambord became king of France. Explain how 
the constitution of France was planned for a monarchy, if neces- 
sary. 

3. Discuss the nature of parliamentary government in 
France. Show why there are numerous French parties, and 
explain why it is difficult to keep a complete ministry in power. 
What was meant by the ' ' bloc " of the early twentieth century ? 

4. Explain the different problems which the republicans 
solved in succession in the process of creating a real republic. 
Show how the monarchists, the clericals, and the radicals inter- 
fered with the republican control of the government. Explain 
how Boulangism threatened the existence of the republic. How 
did the enemies of Dreyfus help the republicans to gain in power 
and prestige? 

5. What was the relation of Church to State in France be- 
fore the Third Republic? What had been done regarding edu- 
cation in public and church schools before 1901? Give the 
provisions of the education act of 1901. Explain the separa- 
tion of Church and State. 

6. Give in the order of their founding, or in good geographi- 
cal order, all important colonies in the French colonial empire 
at the outbreak of the Great War. What has been the nature 
of the support given by the French people to the government 
and the army in the war against Germany? 

7. Why has Alsace-Lorraine been an international problem ? 
Give military and economic reasons why the Germans took it 
in 1871. How have the Germans refuted their own argument 
that Alsace and Lorraine were German? In what respects are 
the two provinces French ? What has been the feeling of France 
toward the "lost provinces"? 

8. Name and explain three important characteristics of the 
French. In what kind of work do they excel, and for what 
occupations and industries is France most noted? Prove 
French thrift by citing investments made by the French people 
in the last half century. 

9. Compare the government of Italy with that of Great 
Britain, noticing similarities and differences. By what means 
has it been possible to hold groups of Italian political parties 



FRANCE, ITALY, AND NETHERLANDS 363 

together? Why is there a "prisoner of the Vatican" ? Explain 
the most important events in the relations of the papacy (the 
Vatican) and the Italian government (the QuiriDal). 

10. For what kinds of agriculture is Italy especially adapted 
by nature ? Since her supply of labor is large, can these crops 
or others be grown most successfully? Why has Italian indus- 
try developed rather slowly ? 

11. Explain the connection between heavy taxation in Italy 
and the Triple Alliance. Name the most important colonies 
in the Italian colonial empire. What is meant by "Italia irre- 
denta" ? What share has Italy had in the Great War? 

12. What was Holland in 1815 ? What difficulty was found 
in keeping both of the Netherlands under one rule ? Why have 
the Dutch never regained the commercial position they held 
in the seventeenth century? What progress in government 
and business has been made by Holland in the last sixty years? 

13. When will the first centennial of Belgian independence 
occur ? What countries guaranteed the independence and neu- 
trality of Belgium? Was there any good reason for her fearing 
either of her two powerful neighbors before 1914? 

14. Outline briefly the share which Belgium has played in 
the Great War. Explain your idea of what should be done 
with and for Belgium when the present conflict closes. 



CHAPTER XIV 

GERMANY AND AUSTRIA (1870-1914) 

Germany and Her Government 

287. Land and People. — The German Empire lies 
on the Great Northern Plain in north-central Europe. 
In 1914 its area was 208,780 square miles. Its popula- 
tion in 1910 was 64,925,993. It is a land of large rivers 
and of limited seacoast. We speak of Germany and the 
German people as a nation, but there are marked differ- 
ences between different parts of Germany. Geographi- 
cally, South Germany with its hills is different from North- 
west Germany, with its fertile valleys and large deposits 
of coal and iron. Each in turn is radically different from 
northeast Germany, from the Elbe River, which has few 
natural resources besides its soil. The soil, moreover, is 
sandy, and the plains are much wider than those in the 
northwestern part of the country. Instead of one Ger- 
many, there are three. 

South Germany, south of the Main River, is Catholic 
and liberal. Its interests are both agricultural and 
industrial. Northwest Germany is preeminently indus- 
trial and commercial. The huge beds of coal and fairly 
large deposits of iron, which underlie Lorraine, West- 
phalia, and part of the Rhine district, give raw materials 
by the use of which the industrial cities of the Rhine 
valley have grown rich. Most of these manufactures of 
western Germany have been exported through the Belgian 
port of Antwerp. Consequently the Germans hoped that 

364 



GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY 365 

in the future they would still be sent through Antwerp, 
but not a Belgian Antwerp. Many people in South and 
West Germany do not love the Prussians. 

Northeast Germany is devoted almost exclusively to North- 
agriculture. The land is held in large estates, and the German 
landed proprietors, the junkers, have furnished most of 
the nobles who have become officials, high or low, for 
Prussia and the German Empire ; therefore the junkers 
have practically ruled both Prussia and Germany. 

288. Prussia and the German Empire. — The German Character 
Empire- (§ 254) is a federal state, made up of twenty-two German 
states, 1 three free cities, and the imperial territory of Empire. 
Alsace-Lorraine. 

Two thirds of the area of the empire is included in the importance 
kingdom of Prussia, which has also nearly two thirds of ° n fo ^|^ 
the inhabitants. Not only is Prussia predominant be- and manag- 
cause of her size and population, but it is literally true that jJ^J-^ 
the present German Empire has been built up by Prussia and 
around Prussia. The proof of this is easily understood 
if we review the history of the Zollverein (§241) and the 
three Wars of 1864 (§244), 1866 (§246), and 1870-71 
(§ 254), undertaken by Prussia, or under the leadership 
of Prussia, for the unification of Germany. 

The old " Germany " was simply a name, but after 1871 Use of a 
the German nation was united, and in time it formed the ^iood° and 
most highly organized power in Europe. , This has been iron" in 
due to a policy of " blood and iron" 2 in the creation of a Q^^fnv 
German Empire and of a similar policy in organizing the 
German people into a consolidated body in which each 

1 Of the twenty-two states, four, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Wurt- 
temberg, are kingdoms. Six are grand duchies and five are duchies. The 
free towns or cities are Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck. 

2 Since the unification of Germany was accomplished by a policy of 
blood and iron (§ 243), Bismarck's prophecy in 1861 apparently was ful- 
filled — "Germany does not look for her salvation to Prussia's liberalism, 
but to Prussia's power." 



366 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



member lives chiefly if not solely for a military state 
(§ 302). Internally, therefore, Germany is dominated by 
Pkussianism, that is, a semi-feudal power supported by 
militarism. This was the force by which Germany was 
united, and this same Prussianism has been the means by 
which Germany has sought to gain control of Europe 
(§§ 421-425) and to dominate the world (§§ 419-430) . 

289. The Government of Prussia. — In order to under- 
stand the German Empire, it is necessary therefore to 
understand Prussia; in order to study the government 
of the German Empire, it is necessary first to become ac- 
quainted with the government of the kingdom of Prussia. 
The Prussia of to-day is ruled under a constitution granted 
by King Frederick William IV in 1850 (§ 225). This 
constitution does not provide for popular government, 
nor does it really permit what English-speaking peoples 
call constitutional government. The head of the state is 
the king, and the kingship is hereditary in the Hohenzol- 
lern line, which has governed Prussia since 1415. The king 
rules through a ministry which is responsible solely to the 
monarch and cannot be forced out of office by the Prussian 
parliament. Next to the king himself, the most powerful 
civil official is the minister of foreign affairs, who is also 
known as the minister-president. In crises, civil authority 
yields first place to the General Staff and the military leaders. 

The Prussian parliament is made up of two houses. 1 
Theoretically, the parliament makes laws and decides 
upon taxes, but, actually, in all important cases, it simply 
approves or disapproves the measures proposed by the 
king's ministers. The method of electing members of the 

1 The upper house, or House of Lords, is composed of royal personages, 
of nobles appointed by the king, or of representatives chosen by certain 
privileged groups or classes. 

The lower house, the House of Representatives, is almost exactly the 
size of the American House of Representatives; that is, it consists of 
443 members. 



GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY 367 

lower house of parliament does not give the common 
people an}^ real share in the government. 1 

290. The Constitution of the German Empire. — The Comparison 
German Constitution is practically that of the North er^oMm-^ 
German Confederation, adopted by the empire in 1871 periai gov- 
(§247). 2 Germany is much smaller than the United J^S^ 
States, and the imperial government controls a great many govem- 
matters which in this country are left entirely to the men ' 
states. The German government has charge of foreign 
affairs, but it also has real control of the railways of the 
empire. Regulation of labor, in America a subject left 
to the states . in Germany is under the imperial authori- 
ties. In the United States, laws in regard* to civil rights 
and laws which define crime or provide for the punishment 
of criminals are state laws ; in Germany, they are under 
imperial control. 3 

1 All men over twenty-five are allowed to vote, but in each district 
they are divided into three classes, each of which pays an equal amount 
of taxes. One third of the representatives therefore are elected by the 
richer three or four per cent of the Prussian people ; only one third are 
chosen by the poorest group of electors, who include more than 85 per 
cent of all voters. This arrangement even Bismarck denounced as the 
worst in the world. Because of this unjust scheme, the working people, 
who are very numerous, have never elected more than seven representa- 
tives to the lower house of the Prussian parliament. Before the Great 
"War broke out, the Prussian people made numerous attempts, without 
success, to change this eighteenth century plan. 

2 When the North German Confederation was formed in 1867, it 
drew up a constitution (§ 247), which made special provision for admis- 
sion of the states of South Germany. In 1870 these states made com- 
mon war with the North German Confederation against France ; con- 
sequently, in November of that year they agreed by treaty to join the 
Confederation, and in 1871 the constitution was completed and ratified. 
In the meantime at Versailles, January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors 
of the French monarch, Louis XIV, William, king of Prussia and 
president of the North German Confederation, was proclaimed Ger- 
man emperor or kaiser (§ 254). 

3 The German constitution may be changed by a majority vote of the 
lower house of Parliament and by a special vote of the Bundesrath. 
An amendment fails of adoption if it is opposed by more than fourteen 
members of the Bundesrath. 



po states. 



368 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Control of The German empire has a navy, but, wonderful as it 

miutaj 11 ma y seem > ^ e ^ m V^ re has no army and no minister of war. 
forces by The Prussian minister of war really serves as an imperial 
Prussia. minister, because practically all of the states have allowed 
their armies to be organized on the Prussian model and to 
be directed by the Prussian General Staff and other mili- 
tary authorities. 
Powers of It must not be thought from this summary that the 

states Parate se P ara ^ e states of the empire do not govern themselves, 
rt 1 There is an " extensive domain reserved entirely to the 

^j states — the determination of their own forms of govern- 

an ment, of laws of succession, of relations of Church 

and State, of questions pertaining to their internal ad- 
ministration ; the framing of their own budgets, police 
regulations, highway laws, and laws relating to land 
tenure ; [and] the control of public instruction." 1 
Dual posi- 291. The Emperor and his Chancellor. — Although 

executive & ^ ne nea ^ of the German Empire bears the title of emperor, 
head of he is really the president of the Federation. The con- 

Germany, stitution of Germany provides that whoever is king of 
Prussia shall by virtue of that fact be president of Ger- 
many, with the title of emperor. Because of his dual 
position as Prussian king and German emperor, and because 
of Prussia's dominant position in Germany (§ 288), the 
kaiser directs the military affairs of Prussia and there- 
fore of Germany. 2 Foreign affairs are likewise in his hands. 
T j He can call the parliament together and may dismiss the 

Pr houses. In administering the immense powers intrusted 

to him, the kaiser is irresponsible, that is, he may not be 
removed and he may not be punished for his acts. 

The emperor of course does not exercise these powers 
in person. By far the most important of his ministers 

1 Ogg, The Governments of Europe, 205. 

2 Actually control of military affairs is in the hands of the Prussian 
war party. 



py 



GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY 369 

is the chancellor, who is appointed by the emperor in fact Position 
as well as in theory, and is responsible, not to the imperial ^J- 1 ^ 01 
parliament, but to the kaiser. 1 Below the chancellor are chancellor, 
a number of ministers, but they do not form a single body 
or cabinet. 

292. The Imperial Parliament. — Apparently the Ger- Organiza- 
man parliament, like those of all other countries, is made J^e^of 
up of two houses ; actually, the smaller body, the Bundes- the Bundes- 
rath, is a semi-sovereign governing council rather than ra ' 
an upper house. The Bundesrath is composed of repre- 
sentatives of the princes of the member states or from the 
senates of the free cities. Of the sixty-one members, 
seventeen are Prussian. 2 The members are diplomatic 
delegates, who may be recalled at any time by the ruler 
who sent them. The Bundesrath is the most powerful 
body in the empire ; for it not only makes laws, but it 
supervises the affairs of the empire in general and has 
important executive and judicial powers. As an upper 
house of the parliament it is usually satisfied to discuss and 
approve or disapprove laws and budgets introduced by 
the chancellor or other ministers. 

The lower house, which is really an unimportant one- Election of 
chambered parliament, is known as the Reichstag, and is S^^SJ^ 
composed of 397 members, each of whom is elected by tag. 
popular vote in a separate district. The method would 
seem to be similar therefore to our method of electing 
congressmen. There are some important differences, 

1 The chancellor is the most important imperial minister, but he is 
not the head of a ministry ; that is, he and his colleagues work independ- 
ently rather than together. 

In consequence, from the establishment of the empire in 1871 to 1917, 
there were only five German chancellors, Prince Otto von Bismarck 
(1871-1890), Count von Ca-pri'vi (1890-1894), Ho-hen-lo'he (1894- 
1900), Prince von Bii'low (1900-1909), Bethmann-Holl'weg (1909-1917). 

2 The seventeen smallest states or cities have one member each. 
Other states have a number dependent upon their size ; for example, 
Bavaria has six. 

2b 



370 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Limited 
powers of 
the 
Reichstag. 



Two old 
political 
parties. 



however. In Germany only men over twenty-five are 
allowed to vote. We rearrange our districts every ten 
years, after each national census ; but in Germany the 
districts have not been rearranged since 1871. L This is 
unjust. The landed aristocracy of Prussia has far more 
than its share of representatives even in the Reichstag. 
On the other hand, the rapidly growing cities, which con- 




The German Reichstag Building 

tain most of the workingmen and the Socialists, have 
fewer representatives than the number to which they are 
entitled. 

The Reichstag has the opportunity for discussing and 
voting on all laws and financial measures. It has been 
called an imperial debating society. It can interfere 
with the making of laws, but it cannot force its own wishes 
upon the Bundesrath, the chancellor, and the emperor. 

293. Political Parties. — At the time the empire was 
established, there were two great parties, the Conserva- 

1 There is one district in Germany in which the voters do not number 
ten thousand. In each of Berlin's districts, however, there are 345,000 
people. 



GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY 371 

tives and the Liberals, each of which had broken up, how- 
ever, into two smaller factions. Two of these parties 
are important to-day, the Conservative party proper, which 
represents the junkers of eastern Germany, the party 
to which Bismarck belonged, and the National Liberals, 
who desire a more constitutional government and favor 
the extension of German business. 

Two new important parties arose within the empire Two im- 
soon after its establishment, under what circumstances P° rt f nt 

parties 

we shall note very soon. These are known as the Center, developed 
made up of the voters who favored states rights rather after 1875, 
than Prussian centralization of the empire and of those who 
still believe that the government should not interfere 
with religious affairs or with the schools under Catholic 
control. The second large group is known as the So- 
cial Democratic party. In 1871 it elected only two mem- 
bers to the Reichstag, but in 1912 it chose 110 represent- 
atives, 20 more than any other party, and cast more than 
4,000,000 votes, or about 35 per cent of the total number. 

Since Germany does not have truly constitutional Large 
government, it is not necessary for the parties to act in number of 
two large groups, as in England or the United States or parties. 
France. Consequently, there are a large number of small 
parties. Each usually represents some race, such as the 
Poles, and follows some local leader ; possibly it is organ- 
ized for only a few years, in order to carry out some local 
policy. 

The German Empire in the Nineteenth Century 

294. Necessary Imperial Legislation. — When the Ger- New 
man Empire was organized in 1871, it had a constitution uniform 

(311S1I1GSS 

and a government, but there were few German or imperial laws for the 
laws. It was necessary therefore, for the parliament to ™ ho1 ? 
make laws for the whole empire on such subjects as the 
constitution permitted or the empire needed. The most 



372 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



New uni- 
form system 
of law. 



Conflict 
between 
Bismarck 
and the 

Catholics. 



The May 
Laws. 



important of these problems were economic. A uniform 
tariff and a metric system of weights and measures were 
already in use throughout the Zollverein. In 1873 a 
system of imperial coinage was adopted, the mark (about 
24 cents) being made the money unit, but gold alone was 
named as the basis for the money system. A little later 
an imperial bank was created to issue national currency 
and to take charge of imperial finances. At first the 
revenues of the empire were furnished chiefly by the 
member states, but in 1879 Bismarck induced parliament 
to establish a protective tariff, which gave him more revenue, 
made him less dependent on the states, and helped to 
build up German industries. 

Since the German constitution placed under the imperial 
authorities many subjects left in America to the states, 
it was necessary for the imperial parliament to make laws 
dealing with those subjects. In 1873 it was decided that 
German codes should be drawn up, which should provide 
brief and uniform laws on all these subjects, including 
crimes, for the whole empire. 

295. Kulturkampf. — It was inevitable that there 
should be a conflict between Bismarck and his followers, 
who were determined to consolidate the empire as fully 
as possible, and large groups that wanted states rights, 
church schools, and freedom for churches from control by 
the imperial government. The struggle between these 
two groups has been dignified by the name Kul-tur'kampf , 
that is, contest for civilization ; for both parties believed 
that the policies which they advocated represented the 
highest kultur or civilization. At the very beginning 
Bismarck announced in no uncertain terms that " to 
Canossa 1 we shall not go." 

For three successive years, in the month of May, laws 
were passed to carry out Bismarck's policy. These are 

i See E. E. C, § 530. 



GERMANY BEFORE 1900 373 

popularly known as the "May Laws." The Jesuits and 
members of similar orders were expelled from Germany. 
The church courts were forced to allow appeal to im- 
perial courts. No Catholic priest might preach or 
teach unless he had taken three years' work in a state 
university and had passed a state examination. All 
religious legislation must conform to the civil laws. 
At this time the party known as the Center was organized ; 
it voted against Bismarck's policy persistently, and in Failure of 
the end successfully, because the Centrists were able really Blsmarck - 
to unite with themselves other factions and parties that 
were opposed to the dominating policy of the Iron Chan- 
cellor. Finally, Bismarck, worsted for almost the first 
time in his career, and fearing the new Socialist party, 
decided to adopt new policies, and made his peace with 
the Center. All anti-Catholic laws which he had passed 
were repealed with the exception of the law providing for 
civil marriages. 

296. Bismarck and State Socialism. — The Social Laws to 
Democratic party was really organized in 1875, when su Pp r ? ss 

r J J ° ; socialism. 

two Socialist groups united. 1 In 1871 the Social Demo- 
cratic vote was only a little more than one hundred thou- 
sand ; six years later it was nearly one half million. This 
alarmed Bismarck, because he was a conservative of the 
conservatives, and the Socialist party was composed of the 
most radical people in German politics. After two at- 
tempts had been made to assassinate William I in 1878, 
Bismarck forced through the parliament several anti- 
Socialist laws, which forbade Socialist meetings, broke up 
their organization, and in general outlawed the Socialists. 
These laws were intended to be temporary, but they were 
kept in force until the Iron Chancellor retired from office 

1 One of these groups was made up of followers of Las-salle' (§ 468) ; 
the other was the original Social Democratic party, founded in 1869 by 
Lieb'knecht and Be'bel. 



374 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Social 

insurance in 
Germany 
(1883- 

1889). 



German 
emperors 
since 1871. 



Political 
ideas and 
policies of 
the kaiser. 



in 1890. This policy of suppression was not successful, 
because the Socialists cast nearly three times as many 
votes in 1890 as they had thirteen years earlier. 

Bismarck did not depend solely upon repressive meas- 
ures, for he inaugurated several new policies which would 
gain for the government the support of the workingman. 
In 1883 the workmen in certain groups were to be insured 
against sickness, partly by state aid. In 1884 insurance 
was extended to include accidents in dangerous industries. 
Later, insurance against accidents was extended to prac- 
tically all workingmen (§486). In 1889 parliament was 
induced, although with great difficulty, to provide insur- 
ance against old age and incapacity (§ 488). These meas- 
ures established a rather complete form of paternalism or 
State Socialism. 

297. William II and Bismarck. — William I lived to 
the age of 90, his reign as kaiser having extended from the 
establishment of the empire, in 1871, to 1888. He did not 
attempt to rule, but left the work of governing and uniting 
Germany to Bismarck. William I was succeeded by his 
son, who took the title of Frederick III, a man of rare 
charm and winning personality. As Frederick had been 
ill for a long time, he reigned only about three months. 
In turn he was succeeded by his son, William II. 

William II was twenty-eight years of age at the time of 
his accession. He was strong-minded and impulsive, 
and anxious to be his own chancellor. He was a true 
Hohenzollern, for he believed thoroughly in the divine 
right of kings, an idea which had passed away in Eng- 
land with the flight of James II (§ 37). It was believed 
that the young kaiser would quickly embroil Europe in 
war, because of his interest in military affairs and his 
determination to increase the prestige of Germany. 

Germany now had two rulers, the young kaiser and the 
old chancellor, who were bound to come into conflict. 



GERMANY BEFORE 1900 



375 



In 1890 William demanded the resignation of Bismarck; 
thereafter he appointed as chancellors men who would 
do his own bidding. Not only did William II break 
with the Iron Chancellor, but in time he reversed many 
of the policies inaugurated by Bismarck. The laws 
against the Socialists 
were not renewed. 
Immediately follow- 
ing Bismarck's res- 
ignation, Germany 
modified her tariff 
policy. Whereas 
Bismarck had given 
almost his whole 
attention to the 
consolidation of 
Germany or to the 
development of Ger- 
man power and pres- 
tige within Europe, 
William II was ex- 
ceedingly interested 
in international 
affairs in other parts 
of the Old World. 
He favored the ac- 
quisition of colonies, 
and he exerted his 
influence to expand Germany's trade. More than all 
else he favored a great navy, for he sought first to make 
Germany a sea power, and then a great world power domi- 
nating the Old World and the New (§ 300). 

298. Expansion before 1900. — The expansion of Ger- 
many started with the growth of foreign trade. The 
huge indemnity of a billion dollars received from France 



Dismissal of 
Bismarck 
and change 
from his 
policies. 




Courtesy of Punch 
Dropping the Pilot 



Beginnings 
of economic 
expansion. 



376 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

by the Treaty of Frankfort in 1871 (§ 254) was dis- 
tributed among people to whom the government owed 
money. Consequently, it was used very largely for the 
development of Germany's new industries. Although 
Germany had not adopted the changes of the industrial 
revolution to any great extent before 1871, she became 
within a few years a modern industrial nation. Manu- 
facturing was aided greatly by Bismarck's protectionist 
policy. During the eighties the Germans began to 
seek foreign markets. Since they noticed that Great 
Britain's foreign trade ' was to a considerable extent 
with her own colonies, they desired colonies of their 
own. 
Colonies in Germany acquired colonies in South Africa, in East 
Africa and Africa, and also north of the Congo on the west coast, 

exchange of 7 ° 7 

Zanzibar for Togoland and Kam e-run. In 1890 a dispute mvolv- 

Helgoiand. m g Zanzibar anc j territory on the East African coast 

led Germany to surrender her claim to Zanzibar and 

to a huge slice of territory in eastern Africa to Great 

Britain in exchange for the island of Hel'go-land, north 

of Hamburg in the North Sea. Helgoland has since been 

made into a second Gibraltar. 

German In 1897 (§ 389) difficulties with China led to the seizure 

possessions f ^ e harbor of Kiaochau and the territory around that 

in the Far . J 

East. port as a German sphere of influence. The next year 

a German fleet had a dispute with Admiral Dewey, be- 
cause the Germans did not wish to see the United States 
acquire the Philippine Islands. Soon afterwards Ger- 
many purchased, from Spain, the Caroline group, the 
Ladrone group, 1 and some other islands, and by treaty 
with Great Britain and the United States she obtained 
the two largest islands in the Samoan group. All German 
colonies were conquered by the Allies soon after the be- 
ginning of the Great War (§ 443). 

1 Except Guam transferred to the United States in 1898. 



GERMANY BEFORE 1900 377 

299. The German Naval Program. — Before 1895 the Growing 
relations of Germany with Great Britain had been com- ^^with" 
paratively cordial. In that year ill feeling was aroused Great 
when the kaiser sent to Oom Paul Krug'er, President of Britain - 
the Trans- vaal' Republic, a message congratulating him 
on the capture of the Jameson raiders in South Africa 
(§ 375). 

The determination of the kaiser to make Germany a sea Ambitious 
power, the desire to foster her growing commerce, and to naval 
protect her new colonies and other international interests 
seemed to her sufficient excuse for a large navy. There 
had been organized in Germany a navy league of influential 
princes and officials which demanded more battle ships. 
The league tried to get appropriations from the govern- 
ment. It also had in public places little banks in the shape 
of ships in which voluntary contributions were deposited. 
In 1898 the imperial parliament finally consented to a 
new and ambitious naval program. It authorized nine- 
teen battleships and more than twice as many cruisers. 
Two years later, at the suggestion of Admiral Von Tir'- 
pitz, since infamous on account of his submarine policy, 
it doubled the number of battleships and subsequently 
provided for a larger number of torpedo boats, destroyers, 
and submarines. 

• We shall see later that England justly believes that the Triple En- 
safety of the British Isles and the British Empire depends tente . , 

** i organized 

upon her control of the sea. Consequently, England against 
watched with growing alarm the building of a navy by the German y° 
most aggressive power of the Continent, which already had 
an immense army. The result was that soon after 1900, 
since Germany had also organized a Triple Alliance, in- 
cluding Austria and Italy (§418), England joined her old 
enemies, France and Russia, in the Triple Entente (§ 425) 
against Germany, whom she now considered her most 
dangerous and powerful antagonist. 



378 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Economic 
develop- 
ment. 



Twentieth Century Germany 

300. Twentieth Century Expansion. — Germany's plans 
for expansion included not only colonies and a great 
navy, but also control of the world's commerce. In turn 
the development of Germany economically included the 
establishment of a great banking system, which extended 
credit to German manufacturers and merchants within 









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the empire and in many foreign countries.' It depended 
even more on the development of huge shops and factories, 
which were carefully fostered by the state. As a rule 
these were equipped with fine machinery and manned by 
skilled workers trained in municipal and state technical 
schools. It was fostered directly by the rapid growth of 
German trade throughout the Old World and New. This 
development of foreign business was not accidental and 
haphazard ; it was a part of a huge scheme to gain control 
of the markets of the world. Cheap and inferior goods were 



TWENTIETH CENTURY GERMANY 379 

able to undersell better products of their rivals. Often 
goods " made in Germany " were sold cheaper than British 
or American goods of the same quality, because German 
banks and the German navy, and in fact the whole scheme 
of German politics, were used to give her merchants the 
advantage of her rivals. If German merchants could not 
compete on equal terms, the government gave them direct 
help, which enabled them to outbid and undersell their 
competitors. In these ways, by " peaceful penetration," 
before 1914 Germany was securing a commercial grip on the 
world and was paving the way for world domination which 
was to be political as well as economic. 

The area over which Germany has first sought to estab- Political 
lish her influence stretches across Europe and part of ex P anslon - 
Asia from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf, because it 
is her plan to reach India. During the last years of 
the nineteenth century, and particularly during the first 
years of the twentieth, she tried to erect and control a 
huge and important railroad system from the coast of 
Asia Minor opposite Constantinople across Asia Minor 
and Mes-o-po-ta'mi-a to Bagdad (§ 413), near the site 
of ancient Babylon. Great Britain, however, first pre- 
vented her getting a seaport on the Persian Gulf, and 
secondly, in an agreement with Russia (by which the 
Triple Entente was completed in 1907), gained for Eng- 
land and Russia control of Persia. Germany wished 
to extend her dominion southeast to the Red Sea and 
the Persian Gulf in order to dominate a strip completely 
across Europe and Asia, with the object of threatening 
British possessions in Egypt and India, but she also 
wanted control of harbors opposite England, from which she 
could strike that country, and by which also the commerce 
of western Germany would find a more direct outlet to 
the outside world. These were some of the aims and 
methods of Pan-Germanism (§ 419). 



380 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



301. Germany in Recent Years. — Because of Ger- 
many's ambitions, plans, and schemes, her history in 
recent years is to a large extent the history of Europe 
rather than that of the German nation. In internal 
politics, however, two movements have been exceedingly 
important. One of these was the agrarian controversy. 
The farmers combined in order to secure more protection 
for agricultural products. They demanded higher rates 
on grains and cattle brought into the empire from abroad. 
They urged that it was folly for Germany to maintain an 
immense army and navy against her continental neigh- 
bors, unless she was able to raise her own supply of food, 
because, in case of war, she might be shut off altogether 
from importing goods. These arguments undoubtedly 
were effective, because a tariff to protect farm products 
was established. Thereafter agriculture, which had 
developed comparatively little for a number of years, im- 
mediately began to expand. 

Another recent movement has been the rise of the 
Socialists, perhaps the best organized unofficial group in the 
world. They have fought autocracy in Germany, they 
have opposed her benevolent socialism, and they have 
worked and voted against those policies which the German 
government and probably most of the German people 
have considered " national." In other words, to the high 
German official the Socialist program has been treason- 
able. In the Great War, however, the Socialists have 
been loyal. 

The Socialists have striven for political reform, but 
others who are not Socialists have worked with them, or 
independently, for changes in the German constitution 
which would make Germany more democratic. Par- 
ticularly have they demanded a new scheme of representa- 
tion in the imperial Reichstag (§ 292) and in the Prussian 
parliament (§ 289 n.). At this writing (1918) none of these 



TWENTIETH CENTURY GERMANY 381 

reforms has been undertaken, but the promise has been 
made by the kaiser and the chancellor that some of them 
will be introduced u after the war." 

302. The German State and Citizen. — Modern Ger- Why the 
many was created by a policy of blood and iron. Against P 61 "? 1 ?^ 1 
possible foreign enemies the same policy has been de- everything 
veloped ; against other countries it has been used re- to the 

r ; ° . government. 

peatedly. The new Germany is a different land from the 
old " Germany," for it has given up the old individualism 
and the old culture (§ 161) . She united by surrendering the 
rights of the individual states and a large number of her 
older ideas, and she has developed a new Prussian kultur. 
In order that Germany might be triumphant, the individ- 
ual, who had never been accustomed to much liberty, 
permitted the state to take* charge of all his affairs from 
the cradle to the grave. 

This subordination of the individual to the state is the Social soli- 
most important characteristic of modern Germany. The ^man * ° 
state, that is the government, takes entire charge of the people 
boy, for it insists that he shall go to school for a certain fkrou^h 
number of years, and it prescribes the kind of education the-suprem- 
which he shall have. A young man does not have the acyofthe 

J ° govern- 

same freedom in selecting his life-work in Germany that ment. 
he would have in America. After employment has been 
selected, the German is still guided and controlled by the 
powers that be. 

This system takes advantage of the German tempera- Advantages 
ment, as well as of German thrift and industry. It turns a ^+ h de Qg* s 
out a citizen who has been accustomed from his babyhood man system 
to obey, for he is subjected to a military discipline in his of soc * al 

a J ■ ... organiza- 

tions, in school, and in all the walks of life. He lives in tion. 

a system which is highly organized, very thorough, and, from 

a material standpoint, efficient. He does not understand 

the advantages of a free and independent life such as is 

enjoyed by an Englishman or American, He is content 



382 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



with paternalism and government control because he has 
had no experience with anything else ; and, since the whole 
nation is organized under government domination, he 
shares in whatever fortune comes to his nation. 

303. Some German Characteristics. — A very impor- 
tant characteristic of modern Germany is the compactly 
organized military state which dominates every interest 
and activity within the country. Although only a half 
century has been spent in this process of consolidation, 
the task was, after all, made comparatively simple by 
the fact that Germans have never had much freedom 
of action. Most of them offered little objection to being 
welded together into a compact mass and ruled abso- 
lutely by a military aristocracy. Because Germany has 
been a nation for only fifty years, whereas the most ad- 
vanced European peoples have been nations for centuries, 
Germany is now passing through the same experiences as 
were encountered by England and France two or three 
centuries ago. That is one reason why the German gov- 
ernment to-day is absolute, like that of Louis XIV (§ 54) 
and James II (§ 37). That may explain why the individual 
German has not yet attained personal freedom. Because 
Germany is a seventeenth century nation in a twentieth 
century world, she depends, as did ambitious absolute 
monarchs two or three centuries ago, upon her army to get 
what she wants. She believes that territory which she can 
seize and retain belongs to her by virtue of her military 
preparedness, her unexampled aggressiveness, and her dis- 
regard for the rights of small peoples, if their armies are 
smaller than hers. 

Because Germany is that anachronism, a semi-feudal state 
in the twentieth century, some of her ideas are several cen- 
turies behind those of other western countries. This 
retarded development seems the more strange because 
many of her industrial methods are exceedingly modern 



TWENTIETH CENTURY GERMANY 383 

and efficient. We need note only two instances of this 
backward status of Germany. The first is her attitude 
toward democracy. Germany may believe in government 
for the people, but she does not believe in government of 
or by the people. If she becomes democratic, it will 
not be because her present rulers wish it ; it will be due to 
the onward march of popular government (§§ 454-457). 
A second instance is found in the feeling of a German 
towards woman. To him a man, who can become a 
soldier, is a lord of creation, woman an inferior crea- 
ture. Respect for women, regard for their rights, con- 
sideration for their welfare ; these are not traits of the 
average Prussianized German. 

To the German not motive, but success, is the real cri- importance 
terion of whether an action is right. This is practically Q e ^°n m 
the old idea that the end justifies the means. Just as theory and 
most Europeans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries P ractlce - 
thought that the king could do no wrong, so now the Ger- 
mans feel that whatever the state does for its own advance- 
ment is right. 1 They therefore believe that might is right. 

Austria-Hungary 

304. Land and People. — Austria, or more correctly Component 
Austria-Hungary, lies southeast of Central Europe, ^ as A oi t 
chiefly in the upper valley of the Danube river. In area, Hungarian 
the country is somewhat larger than either France or Ger- monarcn y- 
many. Its population was about 50,000,000 at the begin- 
ning of the Great War. As its name indicates, it consists 
of two main and almost distinct parts, Austria, which 
comprises a crescent of provinces half surrounding an 
oval-shaped and rather compact Hungary. South of 

1 Treitschke represents the German idea when he says, "The highest 
moral duty of the state " "is to increase its power" ; "among all politi- 
cal sins ... of which a state may be guilty," "the sin of weakness is 
the most contemptible." 



384 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Numerous 
racial 
groups of 
the Dual 
Monarchy. 



Relations of 
Austria and 
Hungary 
(1527- 
1849). 



Policy of 
inaction and 
resistance 
(1849- 
1866). 



these two areas are the provinces, Bosnia and Her-ze-go- 
vi'na, which were attached to Austria in 1878 and in- 
corporated in the monarchy in 1908. 

The Dual Monarchy is not a nation, that is, she is not 
made up of a single race or unified set of people. She is 
made up of a congeries of races ; therefore, she possesses 
no racial unity whatever. Of these races the Germans 
are the most numerous, although there are almost as many 
Magyars (Hungarians) or Czecho-Slovaks as there are 
Germans. However, these three races together comprise 
only three fifths of the entire population of Austria- 
Hungary. Each of the numerous races thinks of itself 
as a nation and wishes independence or practical inde- 
pendence. The Dual Monarchy's racial question is, 
therefore, more important than that of any other country 
in Europe ; it presents the greatest political and social 
problem of Austria-Hungary. 

305. The Dual Monarchy. — Centuries ago Hungary 
was an independent kingdom. When threatened with 
destruction by the Turks (§1), she called in the ruler of 
her powerful neighbor, Austria, and crowned him king 
of Hungary with the iron crown of St. Stephen. After 
the Turks had been driven back, Hungary accepted with 
reluctance the continued rule of the Austrian Habsburgs. 
That she desired independence she showed on many oc- 
casions, particularly in 1849, when she treated Francis 
Joseph II as a usurper, since he had not been regularly 
crowned at Buda-Pest, the capital of Hungary. At 
that time she established the Hungarian republic (§ 242). 
Under the leadership of an able and wise Magyar states- 
man, Francis Dedk, the Hungarians after 1849 opposed 
any cooperation with the Austrians until their rights 
were granted. After the war with Italy (1859) (§ 238), 
Austria provided for new diets in each of the provinces 
of the empire, and called an imperial legislature con- 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY ■ 385 

trolled by the Germans. 1 After a long period of wait- 
ing, Hungary's hour struck when the new Prussian king- 
dom decisively defeated Austria at Sadowa, in the 
Seven Weeks' War (1866) (§ 246). Francis Joseph im- 
mediately called Deak to him and asked him what Hungary 
wanted. 

Deak proposed a scheme which was accepted by Francis The Dual 
Joseph and has since been in use. The empire of Austria ^j n ^ chy 
entered into an agreement with the kingdom of Hungary Ausgieich. 
for a period of ten years. This agreement, called the Aus'- 
gleich, provided that there should be a dual monarchy, 
known as Austria-Hungary. Each member was to be 
separate, independent, and self-governing as far as its 
own affairs were concerned, but there was to be an imperial 
government for the regulation of necessary common in- 
terests. This agreement has since been renewed several 
times, and is still in force. 

306. Government of the Dual Monarchy. — The ruler Central 
of Austria-Hungary is an emperor-king, and the position government 
is hereditary in the Habsburg family. Whoever is em- Hungary, 
peror of Austria is, therefore, accepted as king of Hungary. 
In the administration of external affairs and common 
internal interests of the Dual Monarchy, the emperor- 
king is aided by three ministers, who have charge of foreign 
affairs, the army, and finance. 2 There is no joint par- 
liament, since the laws for each part of the monarchy are 
made by the parliament of that half. There is, however, 
a joint semi-legislative body, consisting of 120 delegates, 

1 The Magyars refused to elect delegates. Many delegates from 
Bohemia and other provinces withdrew when they discovered that the 
German majority would not give them what they considered a square 
deal. 

2 The Ausgieich determines the share of the joint expenses of the Dual 
Monarchy which should be paid by each half. At first Austria contrib- 
uted 70%, Hungary 30%; at present Austria contributes 63^%, 
Hungary 36i* %. 

2r 



386 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Govern- 
ment of the 
empire of 
Austria. 



Illiberal 
government 
of Hungary. 



Unity and 
continuity 
of foreign 
policies. 



60 of whom are elected by the Austrian parliament, and 
60 by the Hungarian parliament. They hold annual 
sessions, one year in Vienna, capital of Austria, the next 
year in Buda-Pest. They do not meet together, but 
each delegation sits separately, discusses all measures 
brought to its consideration in the national language of 
the delegates, and communicates with the other delega- 
tion only in writing. In case they cannot agree, they 
meet in joint session simply to vote, for no debate is per- 
mitted. 

In each of the seventeen provinces of Austria, there is 
an assembly, formerly elected by the property owners, 
now chosen by the people. In addition, there is a supreme 
parliament, the Reichsrat, for the Austrian empire. This 
is made up of two houses, a House of Lords and a House 
of Representatives, and the latter is now chosen by popu- 
lar vote. 

In Hungary there is a central parliament made up of 
two houses, a Table of Magnates and a Chamber of Depu- 
ties. Hungary has not been liberal to the common people, 
who are excluded from voting, nor has it been generous 
to the member provinces of Hungary which are inhabited 
chiefly by Slavs. Only one of these, Cro-a'tia Sla-vo'ni-a, 
has an assembly of its own and some local government. 
The others are ruled by the Magyars, who constitute a 
minority of the people in the whole kingdom, and they 
are ruled harshly and unfairly. 

307. Austria and Hungary under the Ausgleich. — It 
is interesting to notice that, in spite of radical differences 
of race, temperament, and interests, the two halves of the 
Dual Monarchy have been able to act in foreign affairs 
as a unit. This is partly due to the fact that the dual 
government has allowed Germany to suggest her policies 
in relation to affairs of central and western Europe. 
Her policy in southeastern Europe has been to a large 






AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 387 

extent her own (§ 429), and has been accepted in turn by 
Germany (§434). 

Since part of Austria is somewhat interested in industry Conflict of 
and Hungary is preeminently agricultural, there has J^* 68 * 8 
naturally been a conflict between the differing economic internal 
interests of the two. When it has been necessary to ar- P° lcies - 
range a tariff or make commercial treaties, Austria has 
desired protection for her manufacturing, Hungary has 
sought to give greater aid to her farmers. In general the 
Dual Monarchy has solved this rather difficult problem 
by protecting both industry and agriculture. Whenever 
a new Ausgleich has been necessary, there has been a 
bitter, and in some cases prolonged, struggle between the 
two members to gain better terms for themselves. In these 
contests the advantage has Usually been with Hungary, 
which is more highly centralized and united territorially, and 
is more completely controlled by her dominating statesmen. 

308. Some Internal Problems. — One of the chief prob- Two great 
lems of the Dual Monarchy, and of each part, has been the P roblems - 
relation existing between the government and the subject 
peoples of each. Another problem grows out of the demand of 
the workers and peasants for some share in the government. 

In the Austrian possessions, the Czechs (checs) of Bohe- struggle for 
mia tried to imitate the Magyars and secure independence, autonomy 
Bohemia, the land of John Huss and many reform move- hemia. 
ments, had been an independent kingdom. So strenuous 
were their demands that Francis Joseph II was on the 
point of giving them autonomy but feared that other 
races would make similar demands. However, the Czechs 
secured certain concessions, for they were permitted 
to use their own language, even in official documents. 
The work of the Czecho-Slovaks in Siberia in 1918 (§ 326), 
and the recognition of a Czecho-Slovak organization as 
an ally against the Central Empires changed the Czecho 
question from an Austrian to an international problem. 



388 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Universal 
manhood 
suffrage and 
socialist 
gains in 
Austria. 



Unjust and 
dominating 
rule by 
Hungary of 
her subject 
races. 



Distribution 
of workers 
in agricul- 
ture, min- 
ing, and 
industry. 



Poor 

methods 
and poor 
results in 
the Dual 
Monarchy. 



In 1907 Austria granted practically universal manhood 
suffrage within the Austrian empire. The effect of this 
new law was shown immediately in gains made by the 
socialists. Before that time the socialist party had only 
eleven representatives in the lower house of the Austrian 
parliament, whereas at the next election they elected 
eighty-seven. 

In 1868 Hungary passed a law, proposed by Francis 
Deak, which guaranteed the " equal rights of nationali- 
ties " within that kingdom. This law has been a dead 
letter, however, since Deak's influence ceased nearly a 
half century ago. In consequence, the subject races of 
Hungary always oppose Magyar rule and are ready to 
revolt against Hungarian oppression if there is possibility 
of success. 

309. Economic Progress. — The economic revolution ] 
did not reach Austria until the last part of the nineteenth 
century. Even yet it has invaded only a few districts in 
northern and western Austria, and it has not affected 
agriculture to any appreciable extent. Hungary has 
hardly felt the effect of the industrial revolution at all. 
The result is that three persons out of every five in Austria 
are still engaged in, or are dependent upon, agriculture, 
and seven out of ten in Hungary are associated with 
agriculture. Whereas two fifths of the population of 
Germany is industrial, less than one fourth of that in 
Austria is connected with industry and mining, and only 
one person out of seven in Hungary is associated with 
those industries. 

As Austria-Hungary has not introduced many of the 
labor-saving devices which are in use in Germany, it 
usually takes 50 per cent more workers to accomplish the 
same results in Austria than would be necessary in 

1 This term refers not only to the introduction of machinery and the 
factory system, but also to improved methods of agriculture. 






AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 



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390 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Germany. In Hungary, moreover, so little improve- 
ment has been made in agriculture that the average 
yield of wheat is only one half that obtained in Germany 
or Belgium, and the average yield of potatoes is only a 
little more than one third of that which Belgium produced, 
and a little less than one half that secured in Germany. 
The retarded economic development of Austria-Hungary 
is largely responsible for the fact that the monarchy has 
really been a subject state of Germany, rather than an 
independent country. 
The 310. Summary. — Germany is a federal state, made up 

govern- Q f 2Q states or cities. It is controlled by the Prussians 

ment of #> •> 

Germany. because Prussia comprises more than half the area, has 
more than half the people, furnishes the kaiser, who is 
also king of Prussia, a chancellor responsible to the kaiser, 
most of the ministers, and a controlling delegation in the 
upper house, the Bundesrath. Provision is made for 
election, by universal manhood suffrage, of a lower house 
of the imperial parliament, the Reichstag; however, it 
has very little share in the government. There are a large 
number of parties, because there is no " responsible " 
government. The two largest parties at the present time 
are the moderate Center or Catholic party and the radical 
Social Democratic party. 
The German In order to organize an empire it was necessary to make 
is7i ire after ^ aws ^ or a ^ Germany, to draw up a number of imperial 
codes, and to establish imperial courts. The attempt to 
centralize and nationalize Germany brought Bismarck 
almost immediately into conflict with the Catholics. The 
result of the " Kulturkampf " was a compromise, because 
Bismarck wanted the support of the Center against the 
growing Socialist party. To suppress the Socialists and 
to keep them from gaining more supporters Bismarck 
proposed state insurance against sickness, accidents, and 
old age. William II was particularly interested in the de- 



GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 391 

velopment of Germany's foreign commerce and colonial 
empire. As a support for those policies he advocated a 
powerful navy, which did much to arouse the enmity of 
England. 

The wonderful unification of the German people is the Twentieth 
more remarkable because geographically there are three g^ tur y 
Germanies, industrial West Germany, South Germany, 
and agricultural northeastern Germany. Unification has 
been accomplished through the arbitrary and autocratic 
system of government by the junker class. It has also 
been made possible by the fact that the German has never 
enjoyed much individual liberty, and therefore is by 
temperament and training fitted to be a soldier and content 
to be a cog in the huge" industrial and social machine. In 
very many of her political and social ideas, Germany is 
centuries behind the rest of the civilized world. 

Austria is by far the most important country in the Austria- 
basin of the Danube. Her peoples do not form a nation, Hun s ar y- 
because there are too many races. The government of 
Austria was highly autocratic before 1860, but in 1867 
Austria-Hungary was reorganized as a Dual Monarchy, in 
which the Austrian possessions form one part and the 
Hungarian the other. Foreign and general affairs of the 
country are managed by a joint semi-legislative body (the 
delegations), but each half has its own legislature, or 
parliament. The great problem of Austria-Hungary is 
the racial question. Each important race wishes to 
have a separate government such as the Austrians and 
Magyars have now. The two most important of these 
unorganized groups are the Czecho-Slovaks and the Jugo- 
slavs (§ 412). Austria has not yet attempted to organize 
each as a separate state within a general federal state 
or system. Economically, the country is not well 
developed. 



392 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

General References 

Hazen, Modern European History, 363-383, 416-427. 

Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, 
II, 165-207. 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 
397-435. 

Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814, 485-553. 

Cambridge Modern History, XII, 134-212. 

Andrews, Historical Development of Modern Europe, II, 278- 
296, 368-390, 415-435. 

Henderson, Short History of Germany, II, 451-578. 

Tower, Germany of To-day. 

Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany. 

Barker, Modern Germany, Her Political and Economic Prob- 



Howe, Socialized Germany. 
Rohrback, German World Policies. 
Fife, The German Empire between Two Wars. 
Ogg, Governments of Europe, 193-287, 442-516. 
Steed, The Hapsburg Monarchy. 
Alden (ed.), Hungary of To-day. 

Kelner, Arnold, and Delisle, Austria of the Austrians and 
Hungary of the Hungarians. 

Palmer, Austro-Hungarian Life in Town and Country. 

Topics 

German Political Parties : Ogg, Governments of Europe, 
236-240 ; Lowell, Governments and Parties of Continental Europe, 
II, 8-52; Bulow, Imperial Germany, 175-188, 202-216; Fife, 
The German Empire between Two Wars, 114-138. 

The German Naval Program before 1914 : Tower, Ger- 
many of To-day , 77-82 ; Billow, Imperial Germany, 20-36, 42- 
45, 120-123 ; Barker, Modern Germany, Her Political and Eco- 
nomic Problems, 317-362 ; Schmitt, England and Germany 
(1740-1914), 173-218. 

Industrial Expansion: Tower, Germany of To-day, 160- 
179 ; Biilow, Imperial Germany, 248-270 ; Howe, Socialized 
Germany. 52-79 ; Barker, Modern Germany, Her Political and 
Economic Problems, 626-644, 717-741 ; Seymour, Diplomatic 
Background of the War, 66-88 ; Howard, Recent Industrial Prog- 
ress of Germany, 28-50. 



GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 393 

The Goveknments of the Dual Monarchy : Wilson, The 
State, §§ 738-761 : Andrews, Historical Development of Modern 
Europe, II, 285-296 ; Ogg, Governments of Europe, 456-459, 
509-514; Steed, The Hapsburg Monarchy, 17-39. 

Studies 

1. The three Germanies. Dawson, Evolution of Modern 
Germany, 17-36. 

2. The Prussian parliament. Ogg, Governments of Europe, 
257-265. 

3. Prussia and the German federal system. Tower, Ger- 
many of To- Day, 31-46. 

4. Personal government and parliamentary rule in Ger- 
many. Fife, The German Empire between Two Wars, 101-113. 

5. The Junkers vs. the Social Democrats. Bulow, Imperial 
Germany, 202-247. 

6. Organization and earliest problems of the German Empire. 
Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 404-409. 

7. Germany's agrarian problem from the Junker stand- 
point. Bulow, Imperial Germany, 252-270. 

8. Chemical industries. Barker, Modern Germany, Her 
Political and Economic Problems, 626-644. 

9. Economic geography of Central Europe. Partsch, 
Central Europe, 161-202. 

10. Economic foundations of class rule. Howe, Socialized 
Germany, 36-51. 

11. The German "System." Gerard, My Four Years in 
Germany, 111-128. 

12. German castes and classes. Tower, Germany of To-Day, 
207-229. 

13. The Social Democratic party. Barker, Modern Germany, 
Her Political and Economic Problems, 384-411. 

14. Deak and Hungarian autonomy. Andrews, Historical 
Development of Modern Europe, II, 289-296. 

15. Suffrage and racial representation in Austria. Ogg, Gov- 
ernments of Europe, 466-472, 481-483. 

16. Suffrage and racial representation in Hungary. Ogg, 
Governments of Europe, 493-497. 

17. Hungarian industries. Alden (ed.) Hungary of To-day, 
48-64. 



394 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

18. Undeveloped economic condition of Austria-Hungary. 
Naumann, Central Europe, 125-133, 301-304. 

Questions 

1. How many states are there in the German Empire? 
Which are kingdoms? Which are free cities? How does 
Prussia compare in size with the next largest? with all other 
states taken together? 

2. Compare Germany and the United States in respect to 
federal system and division of authority between states and 
nation. Compare Germany's system of government through 
the chancellor with England's rule through her ministry 
(§ 359). 

3. Describe the organization of the German imperial parlia- 
ment. Show why the Bundesrath is so important. Account 
for the insignificance of the Reichstag. Compare the election 
of members to the Reichstag with that of delegates to the lower 
house of the Prussian Landtag. Name the most important 
parties and show for what each stands. 

4. To what extent was Germany united in 1867 ; in 1871 ? 
What imperial legislation was necessary after 1871? Explain 
why in each case. 

5. What was meant by " Kulturkampf " ? What did each 
party want? What did Bismarck force upon the Catholics 
temporarily ? Why did he pass antisocialist laws and measures 
of state socialism? Why did Bismarck resign after William II 
became kaiser ? 

6. What policies of Bismarck's were retained after 1890? 
What new policies were inaugurated or developed? Show the 
importance of Germany's economic expansion, of her colonial 
empire, and of her new naval program. 

7. Name the countries in the Triple Alliance. Why was a 
Triple Entente formed against Germany (§ 425)? What coun- 
tries were in the Triple Entente? 

8. What was the agrarian controversy of the early twen- 
tieth century, and how was it settled? Why were there so 
many socialists in Germany ? What reforms did they demand ? 
How many did they get? 

9. Describe each of the three Germanics and show its con- 
nection with the development of the whole empire. What is 
the attitude of the Junkers and of the imperial government in re- 



GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 395 

gard to industry ; to G erman development ; to the rights of the in- 
dividual citizen? What are the advantages and disadvantages 
of the German scheme of social organization ? From the Ameri- 
can point of view or from the the standpoint of world democracy, 
what are the serious defects of the German system? 

10. Describe the races and industries of Austria-Hungary. 
How did the revolutions of 1848 lead to political reforms from 
1860-1867? 

11. Why do we speak of Austria-Hungary as a dual mon- 
archy? What is the nature of the Ausgleich; of the joint semi- 
legislative body, and of the joint ministry which represents the 
whole country? 

12. During the last half century what internal changes and 
problems of Austria-Hungary have been most prominent, and 
how has each been decided? How does the economic develop- 
ment of the country, compare with that of France a half century 
ago or with that of England in the early half of the nineteenth 
century ? Give now, or later, a summary of the part played by 
Austria-Hungary in the Great War. 



CHAPTER XV 



THE RUSSIAS 



Russia before 1890 



Area of 
the Russian 
Empire. 



Kingdoms 
within the 
Russian 
Empire in 
1815. 



311. Russia in 1815. — The Russia of 1815 included, as 
did Russia at the beginning of the Great War, European 
Russia and Asiatic Russia. The Russian Empire extended 
from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, and from the 
Baltic to the Pacific. Some territories have been added 
since 1815 in central or southwestern Asia, but in area 
the Russia of one hundred years ago was not radically 
different from Russia in 1914. In fact in that day Russia 
owned Alaska and was extending down the Pacific 
coast in North America until warned off by President 
Monroe's message in which he announced the original 
Monroe Doctrine. 

In the early part of the nineteenth century Russia had 
added two areas, both of which were recognized after 1815 
as separate kingdoms with their own constitutions. One 
of these was Finland, acquired from Sweden in 1809 and 
inhabited chiefly by an Asiatic people, the Finns, together 
with some Swedes. They had a rather ancient civiliza- 
tion, of which they were exceedingly proud, and local 
institutions to which they were strongly attached. In 
1815 the Congress of Vienna (§ 171) transferred to 
Russia most of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which was 
organized as the kingdom of Poland with the tsar its 
head. 

396 



RUSSIA BEFORE 1890 



397 



Besides these distinct areas which were united to Russia 
only through the person of the tsar, Russia was divided 
into a number of districts, each of which had its own char- 
acteristics. The largest and most populous of these was 
and is Great 
Russia, which 
with Moscow 
as its center 
formed the 
Russian Em- 
pire in the fif- 
teenth and 
sixteenth cen- 
turies. West 
of Great Rus- 
sia, between 
the gulf of 
Finland and 
Poland, are the 
Baltic Prov- 
inces, inhab- 
ited by Protes- 
tant Teutons 
rather than by 
Slavic peoples. 
West Russia 
corresponds in 
a general way 
with Lithuania 

of the medieval period. It contained then most of the 
Jews of the country, but it is inhabited now chiefly by Slavic 
peoples belonging to the Greek Catholic church. 

Southern Russia is chiefly noted for its exceedingly rich, 
black soil. One of the most important areas of this part 
of the empire is l/ittle Russia, the heart of U-kra'ni-a, which 




TERRITORIAL GROWTH OF 

EUROPEAN RUSSIA 

SCALE OF MILES 

100 100 200 300 400 500 6W 7 00 



■— r*s: 



Persia 



190? 



Districts of 
northern 
and western 
Russia. 



Districts in 
southern 
Russia and 
in Asia. 



398 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Population. 



Revolts of 
1830 and 
loss of the 
Polish con- 
stitution. 



still has its own dialect and considers itself far more 
advanced than central Russia. Still farther south lies 
South Russia, one of the great agricultural regions of 
Europe. Most of the inhabitants of European Russia are 
Slavs, but the Caucasus region, acquired during the nine- 
teenth century, is inhabited by other peoples, Cir-cas'sians, 
Armenians, and others, who have a different religion and 
belong to different races. Siberia in Asia comprised 
more than two thirds of the area of the empire. 

The population of Russia, which in 1815 was less than 
50,000,000, a century later was nearly 150,000,000 for 
European Russia, with about 17,000,000 more in the 
Asiatic provinces. 

312. The Polish Question before 1863. — Alexander 
I, who was tsar in 1815, granted the Polish kingdom a 
constitution. At that period he was interested in liberal 
and reform movements. In order to carry out his plans 
he proposed the Holy Alliance (§ 173), which Metternich 
changed into an alliance for the repression of liberalism 
and democracy. He was succeeded by his younger 
brother, Nicholas I, a soldier who was far more con- 
servative and reactionary than Alexander had ever been. 
The Poles had been ready to rebel, even under Alexander. 
Soon after the accession of Nicholas, when revolutions 
occurred in France and in Belgium, 1830 (§§ 216, 
283), the people rose against what they considered 
Russian oppression. The Polish revolt continued nearly 
a year, but the ability of Russia to. suppress it was never 
in doubt. As a result Poland lost her constitution and 
thenceforth was ruled by Russian officials, who were far 
more unfair and severe than their predecessors before 
1830. 

The Poles did not accept defeat but continued to work 
for independence. Since most peoples of central Europe, 
during the period from 1845 to 1875, were trying to gain 



RUSSIA BEFORE 1890 399 

national governments for each separate racial group, Failure of 
the Poles made one more determined effort to establish t e ,* nsu . r ~ 

rection in 

their independence. The second great Polish insurrection Poland 
occurred in 1863. Not only was an attempt made to gain (1863) - 
independence for the Russian kingdom of Poland, but the 
Poles sought also to regain the " lost provinces " of 
Lithuania, in order to create a Polish kingdom equal in 
area to Poland at the height of her power (§ 65). In 
this struggle not even the Poles themselves were united, 
as in fact they never had been in all history. They had 
little support from the people of the " lost provinces," 
most of which were inhabited by Slavs who belonged to 
the Greek Catholic church. Foreign intervention in their 
behalf amounted to so little that it was a hindrance rather 
than a help, since it gave an excuse for Bismarck to offer 
aid to the tsar, an act of friendliness that helped to bring 
together Russia and Prussia in later years (§ 416). As 
the Poles were disunited and unsupported, their insur- 
rection was suppressed easily. 

313. Poland since 1863. — The failure of this insurrec- Political 
tion led to a far more complete " Russification " of Poland. ai ^ . 

1 religious 

The Polish language could no longer be used officially in "Russifi- 
the courts, in the schools of the country, or even in ordinary catlon - 
conversation. Polish literature was suppressed in the 
schools, churches, and newspapers. Russian laws were 
extended to Poland. An attempt was even made to 
convert the Roman Catholic Poles to the Greek Catholic 
faith. 

These political and social losses were compensated in Economic 
part by economic gains. The Polish peasants were f^Sfica- 
allowed to become full owners of the lands which they tion. 
had formerly held as tenants. The Poles were permitted 
to make use of the forest land and the pastures of the 
nobles' estates, and in other ways the power of the 
nobles over the peasants was broken. Since Poland was 






400 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Attempts 
to give the 
serfs free- 
dom and 
the people 
self-govern- 
ment. 



now protected by a Russian tariff, industry developed, 
and the Polish cities grew as rapidly as have some Ameri- 
can cities in the last half century. Poland was probably 
richer and more prosperous before 1914 than she could 
have been under the rule of her own nobles and king. 
At the beginning of the Great War, Poland became 
a battle ground (§ 440). She has suffered much and her 
fate is " on the knees of the gods." 

314. Reforms of Alexander II. — During the Crimean 
War, between Russia on the one side and Turkey, Great 

Britain, France, and Sar- 
dinia on the other (§409), 
Nicholas I died and was 
succeeded by his son, Alex- 
ander II. Alexander was 
much more liberal than 
his father, and almost im- 
mediately began to intro- 
duce a series of reforms. 
By far the most important 
of these was the emancipa- 
tion of the serfs (§316), 
which gave Alexander the 
title the " Tsar-Liber- 
ator." Of very great im- 
portance were the local and provincial assemblies, called 
zems'tvos. At the beginning these were made up of nobles 
and of representatives from all other classes. They had 
control of public improvements, such as roads and 
public buildings, of education, of poor relief, and of 
public health. To a large extent the raising of revenues 
by taxation was left to them. In later years, however, 
the zemstvos were restricted more and more, because the 
provincial governors appointed by the government at 
Petrograd interfered with them constantly. 




Alexander II 



RUSSIA BEFORE 1890 401 

Under Nicholas I a very good code of Russian laws had Legal and 
been drawn up. These laws did not apply to all Russia at ^ T ^ na] 
first ; but gradually they were extended to other parts of 
the empire — a part of the policy of " Russification " 
(§ 319). Under Alexander II the law codes were reor- 
ganized so that courts of the nobles did not have as much 
power as formerly. Occasionally juries were used, and 
the rights of the people were protected as they never 
had been before, but it must not be supposed that the 
judicial system was as complete or as perfect as that of 
countries in western Europe. Other reform measures 
sought to reorganize education, but only boys of the upper 
classes and a few selected scholars of other groups were 
allowed to attend the higher institutions of learning. 
Among scholars and thinkers there developed at this time 
a doctrine called nihilism. 

315. Reaction under Alexander II and Alexander III. Nihilism, 
— In time nihilism was taken up by those who wished to the . t f r " , 

. . ronsts, and 

overthrow the government, and, still later, it added to assassina- 
its numbers those who wished to destroy Russian autocracy tlon ' 
by a system of terrorism. As the terrorists used dynamite 
and other extreme means, in that day the saying was 
common, " Russia is a despotism tempered by assas- 
sination." The Russian government tried to suppress 
this movement, but without success, and in 1881 the tsar, 
Alexander II, was assassinated on the very day on which 
he had agreed to grant additional reforms. 

Alexander II was succeeded by his son Alexander III. Suppression 
The new tsar was a man of unusual physical strength. 
When he made a call, he was accustomed to take a coin 
which bore his likeness and twist it between his thumb 
and forefinger; he then left it as his personal calling 
card. He was like his grandfather, Nicholas I, in be- 
ing extremely conservative. By a policy of suppression 
the terrorists were wiped out. The police followed the 
2d 



methods 
and exile. 



402 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



methods that had been introduced under Nicholas I, 
spying upon all persons in their homes or businesses. 
This police organization was known as the "third section"; 
it possesses a name infamous in modern history. Large 
numbers of political offenders were tried secretly and sent to 
Siberia. During the last years of the reign of Alexander II, 
and during the whole of Alexander Ill's reign the annual 
number of exiles was double that under Nicholas I. This 
policy of reaction was successful for the time, but when 
reforms came in the early part of the twentieth century, 
they were all the more radical because of the severity of 
the Romanoff rule from 1875 to 1890. 



Different 
classes of 
serfs and 
their eman- 
cipation. 



Granting 
of lands 
to serfs. 



Economic Reform and Development 

316. The Emancipation of the Serfs. — Until 1858 
the soil of Russia was cultivated by serfs who were bound 
to the land as were the medieval serfs (§ 8) in western and 
central Europe. About half of all Russian serfs lived 
on lands belonging to the crown or members of the royal 
family ; most of the other half were on estates owned by 
nobles. Some of them were engaged in domestic service 
in the homes of nobles or in industrial work in the towns. 
By a series of measures, which we need not study in detail, 
Alexander II emancipated the different classes of serfs 
between the years 1858 and 1866. 

It was well understood that to give the serf freedom 
without giving him control of land of his own would leave 
him in worse condition than before, because Russia is 
preeminently an agricultural country, in which almost 
all people, even now, get their living from the soil. Since 
the ancestors of most of these serfs had cultivated the 
plot of ground on which the serfs were living, they felt 
that they had a certain right to that plot. The govern- 
ment recognized this claim as just and gave the serfs 
some land, but it left the rest to the nobles. The serfs, 



ECONOMIC REFORM 



403 



however, were compelled to pay for the land which they 
secured. Since they had no money of their own, the 
government advanced to them the necessary sums, and 




Peasant's Hut, Russia 



and the 
new facto- 
ries. 



allowed them to pay it back in forty-nine annual install- 
ments. 1 

317. The Industrial Revolution in Russia. — The Household 
emancipation of the serfs and the rapid growth of Russia's JiS^Sf 
population made it difficult for all adults to earn a liv- 
ing from the soil; consequently a large number sought 
employment in the cities. Since the Russian peasant, 
like the English farmer of the early eighteenth century 
(§ 180), had been accustomed to eke out a living by house- 
hold industries, he was in many cases an artisan as well as 

1 This land, about half of European Russia suitable for agriculture, 
was not given to the serfs individually, except in some of the southern, 
western, and northern provinces. Nine tenths of it was transferred, not 
to the individual peasant, but to the villages of peasants, the mirs. So 
numerous were the obligations of the peasant under the new plan, and 
so much was he limited in the things he was allowed to do, that it was 
popularly said he had ceased to be a serf of a noble and had become a 
"serf of the state." 



404 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Industrial 
develop- 
ment after 
1885. 



Extension 
of railways 
under 

government 
ownership. 



a farmer. This made the transition from agriculture to 
industry a comparatively easy matter. The development 
of industry, however, required the introduction of 
machinery, which was not manufactured in Russia. It 
demanded capital, which Russia did not possess, and it 
therefore called for a great deal of government help and 
supervision. 

The Russian protective tariff, which helped to develop 
Poland, aided also the growth of manufacturing in other 
sections, particularly the towns in the South and the 
larger cities of the empire. The government gave 
special help by organizing scientific and industrial schools 
and by favoring the importation of machinery. The Dual 
Alliance (§ 422), by which the Russian army was in a 
sense offered to France in exchange for French money, 
gave Russia the capital which she needed, and after 
1885 industry expanded rapidly. Especially was this 
the case under the ministry of Count Sergius Witte, 
who was minister of finance and commerce after 1893. 
The number of workers in all industries more than doubled 
between 1885 and 1900, and the value of Russian manu- 
factures increased severalfold. 1 

318. Economic Progress. — One other way in which the 
Russian government aided business was the encourage- 
ment of railway building and the actual construction of 
government-owned railway systems. 2 The most ambitious 
project was the Trans-Siberian government railroad from 

1 The cotton industry was particularly flourishing. Iron smelting and 
other iron industries grew rapidly because the immense fields of Russian 
iron could be worked more easily, especially as the coal supplies could 
be brought to the iron district. Before 1900 Russia was producing more 
iron than any other country except the United States, Germany, and 
Great Britain. 

2 It has been the Russian policy to buy up as many privately owned 
railways as possible ; in consequence nearly three quarters of the railway 
mileage in Russia was owned and managed by the government before 
1914. 



ECONOMIC REFORM 



405 



the large cities of European Russia to the Pacific 
Ocean. 

For centuries before the German Empire was organized, Deveiop- 
Russia's commerce with England had been very important. r! 




During the half century 
before 1914, however, 
Russia's trade with Ger- 
many developed rapidly 
and far outstripped that 
carried on with Great 
Britain. As one would 
expect, the principal ex- 
ports are agricultural 
products, especially 
wheat, exported to all 
parts of the world, and 
barley, sent chiefly to 
Germany. 1 Since Russia 
possesses the finest oil 
fields in the world, she 

is beginning to refine, use, and export considerable quan- 
tities of petroleum; in the future, these fields may 
become the world's chief supply for crude and refined 
oils. 2 

1 On account of the development of manufacturing, the importation 
of manufactured goods has decreased continually, compared with all 
imports and compared also with exports, so that the exports of Russia 
are nearly a quarter larger than the imports. 

2 Economic progress in Russia has been built up so much through gov- 
ernment favor and help that it has not always been an economic advantage 
for the consumer. As Ogg says, Economic Development of Modern 
Europe, page 338: "It is a striking commentary upon the system that, 
reckoning prices in the quantity of grain which must be produced as the 
equivalent in value, the Russian peasant pays two and one half times as 
much as the German peasant for his cotton and sugar, four and one half 
times as much for iron implements, and six times as much for coal." 



Russian ex- 
port trade. 



Wittk 



406 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The prob- 
lem of 
making a 
nation of 
Russia. 



Recent Changes in Russia 

319. The " Russification " of European Russia. — As 
we noted above (§ 311), Russia, even European Russia, 
is not a unit ; that is, Russia is not a nation but a group of 
separate peoples, some Russian and some of non-Slavic 
races. During the last third of a century there has been 
a strong movement to consolidate all of the different ter- 
ritories of the country and to nationalize all the different 
classes and peoples of Russia. In other words, Russia 




University at Helsingfors, Finland 



General 
problem of 
"Russifica- 
tion." 



has been trying to do in recent years what France was 
completing in the eighteenth century and the nations of 
central Europe sought to accomplish in the nationalist 
period about the middle of the nineteenth. 

The work of " Russification " included the abolition of 
special privileges and sought to reduce the differences 
between the Poles, the Finns, the Jews, or the people of 
southern Russia on the one hand and the people of the 
rest of European Russia on the other. 



ECONOMIC REFORM 407 

The people of Poland and southern Russia were perse- "Russifica- 
cuted for religious reasons, and the government attempted ti^South 
to make them conform to the " orthodox " faith. In and in the 
Little Russia an attempt was made to prevent the further North - 
use in schools and in literature of the Little Russian dialect. 
The Jews, most of whom resided in western and southern 
Russia, were forced, under the new regime, to live in a 
small area called the "Jewish Pale," which was located 
in southwestern Russia. 1 In 1899 the constitution of 
Finland was annulled, and there was an attempt to make 
Finland, which had enjoyed a practically separate exist- 
ence, an integral part of the Russian Empire. Later, 
Finland was brought under the very arbitrary rule of the 
Russian police administrator, Von Pleh've, to whom the 
severe enforcement of the policy of " Russification " 
was chiefly due. 

320. Growing Unrest in Russia. — The policy of Discontent 
"Russification " caused growing unrest among the peoples s ho rt a„ e °° 
of the borderlands of Russia who were not distinctly and lack of 
Russian at heart and in some cases not Slavs at all. 
Another cause of discontent was the agricultural situ- 
ation. Agricultural Russia had not been remarkably 
prosperous in the years since Alexander II freed the serfs. 2 
There had been an actual decrease in the amount of grain 
produced, yet at the same time the people were spending 
more for food. 

1 The Jews were persecuted in a number of ways, with the result that 
many thousands emigrated to America. Anti-Jewish riots occurred in 
many cities. The massacre at Kish-i-nev' (1903) was the most infamous 
of these attacks and called forth a protest from President Roosevelt. 
In the Baltic provinces, the Russian language was substituted as the offi- 
cial language in place of the German language in courts and in schools. 

2 The average area of farms which each person had for cultivation had 
decreased from more than six acres per person to less than four acres. 
This change was of course due to the fact that the population had in- 
creased rather rapidly, whereas the peasants had no more land in 1900 
than they had in 1861. 



408 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Social 
changes 
brought 
about by 
new indus- 
trial condi- 
tions. 



Influence 
of the 
defeats of 
the Russo- 
Japanese 
War. 



Beginnings 
of political 
and indus- 
trial organi- 
zations 
which de- 
manded re- 
forms. 



Demand of 
workers for 
reform and 
for relief. 



A further cause of discontent, and possibly the most 
important of all, was the new industrial revolution, which 
had not only introduced new capital, established large 
factories, and created a workman class in the larger 
cities, but had also introduced new ways of producing 
and marketing goods, had upset the many old methods of 
working and of living, and had therefore caused a great 
deal of hardship. 

321. The Demands for Radical Reform (1904). — The 
immediate cause of the revolutionary movement of 1905 
was not internal but external. The repeated defeats of 
the Russians in the Russo-Japanese war (§ 396) aroused the 
people of all Russia against the bureaucratic and ineffi- 
cient government which had made such failures possible. 

The first overt act of the revolution was the assassi- 
nation of Plehve, who was blown to pieces by a bomb in 
one of Petrograd 's streets. In November, 1904, a con- 
ference was held in Petrograd, at which the leading members 
of the zemstvos (§ 314) were present. These men de- 
manded eleven specific reforms and asked for an elected 
national assembly. Most of them insisted that this 
assembly should have the power to make laws ; others were 
willing that it should be simply an advisory council. In 
the meantime, all different classes of workmen and pro- 
fessional men were organizing unions in order that they 
might secure reforms desired by them. The govern- 
ment took no action at this time, but promised a number 
of reforms. 

Strikes now began to break out in all the larger cities. 
In many cases the strikers asked for specific forms of relief. 
On Sunday, January 22, 1905, several thousand workmen, 
headed by Father Gapon, attempted to march through 
the streets of Petrograd to the Winter Palace. They 
desired to petition the tsar, the " Little Father," asking 
him to give them relief. They carried no arms, but they 






ECONOMIC REFORM 



409 



desired to rescue him from the group of reactionaries by 
whom he was being influenced. The police stopped all 
of these processions and in several cases fired upon the 
workmen. This day is known as " Red Sunday." 

A number of congresses which desired radical reforms 
were called the next year (1905). One of these was a 
union of unions brought together under the leadership of 
Prof. Paul Mil'you-kov, who had recently been lecturing in 
America. Milyoukov was the most active organizer of 




Winter Palace, Petrograd 



opposition to the reactionary Russian government and the 
most prominent leader of a group afterward called Con- 
stitutional Democrats, or Kadets for short, who wanted to 
secure a constitution for Russia. 

322. The Revolution of 1905. — The demands of Beginnings. 
the congresses and of the zemstvos became more in- 
sistent. Workmen, teachers, lawyers, and students asked 
for reforms ; the workmen also continued strikes. Through- 
out many of the provinces the peasants rose against their 



410 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Promises of 
constitu- 
tional 

liberties and 
govern- 
ment. 



Deadlock in 
the second 
duma. 



Limited 

suffrage for 
election of 
members 
and desir- 
able legisla- 
tion. 



local nobles, seizing records and burning manor houses 
as they did in the days of Wat Tyler, the Jacquerie, 1 
and the French Revolution (§ 127). 

August 19, 1905, the government promised an imperial 
duma or parliament. Since, however, few men were to 
take any part in electing representatives to the duma, 
more disorder and strikes occurred, with the result that 
the tsar dismissed his unpopular and reactionary ministers, 
and summoned Count Witte to form a cabinet. On 
October 30, an edict was issued which promised freedom 
of speech, conscience, and meeting, and agreed that no 
law should be made without the consent of the new duma. 
Somewhat later, suffrage was extended until almost all 
men in the empire had a" share in the election of delegates 
to the duma. 2 Deprived of any real power, this first 
duma accomplished little and was dissolved by the tsar; 
a new election was called at the same time. 

323. Later Dumas. — The members of the second 
duma insisted upon more power ; on the other hand, the 
new premier, a very able and fearless man, Sto'lypin, 
would yield nothing, and the second duma, like the first, 
accomplished nothing. After holding sessions for about 
three months, it in turn was dissolved. 

In order that the government might have a duma 
which could cooperate with it rather than oppose its 
policy, a new edict was issued which changed greatly the 
law defining the right to vote. Since the members of 
the third duma under this law were elected by land- 



1 E. E. C, §§ 625, 626. 

2 In most cases, however, the people did not vote directly for members 
of the duma. Usually they selected delegates, who in turn chose 
electors, who again in turn selected the duma members from their 
own number. The elections gave the Constitutional Democrats, or 
Kadets, the largest number in the new body! but the government was 
not willing to grant such a constitution as the majority demanded. 



ECONOMIC REFORM 411 

owners and other propertied classes, the third duma and 
Stolypin were able to agree upon a number of measures. 
In the five years that it was in session, this body passed 
several important laws, one of which made it possible for 
the peasants to acquire land. 1 

The fourth duma was in session at the time the Great The fourth 
War broke out. It continued to hold meetings until the duma - 
spring of 1917, when it was dissolved by the tsar, but it 
reassembled and forced the tsar to abdicate. In turn it 
was dissolved by the Council of Soldiers and Workmen's 
Delegates (§ 326). 

324. International Relations of Russia Before 1914. — Expansion 
Aside from the wars with Turkey (§§ 409, 410) due to ^dX? 
Russia's desire to gain Constantinople and to have under putes with 
her protection the Balkan states, the Russians have been apan ' 
engaged in only one important war since the days of 
Napoleon. We have already noticed (§ 63) the Russian 
expansion through Siberia to the Pacific Ocean and later 
(§ 383) we shall study the advance made by Russia in 
central and southwestern Asia, which alarmed the English 
before 1907. The expansion to the Pacific did not con- 
flict with any Asiatic Power until 1904 (§ 396). In that 
year occurred the war between Russia and Japan, which 
resulted in an almost unbroken series of defeats for the 
Russian forces. The effect of this war on the Russian 
people and on the Russian revolution we have already 
noted. 

The humiliating defeats in the war with Japan forced the 

1 As a result the peasants were not obliged, either individually or 
through the mirs, to pay any more money for the land which they had 
obtained. A large amount of new land was also opened to them. If a 
peasant family was occupying in 1909 the land which it had gained in 
1861, it was allowed to become full owner of that land. In the mirs 
which were accustomed to reallot the land, as described above (§ 316), 
the peasants gained either the land which they were occupying or an 
equivalent. 



412 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Trouble 
with Aus- 
tria and 
Germany. 



Attitude of 
the people 
toward the 
government 
in 1915 and 
in 1917. 



From 

Romanoff 

autocracy 

to Bol- 

sheviki 

anarchy. 



Russian government to reorganize its army. This was a 
task of great magnitude, which was only partly accom- 
plished when, in 1908, Austria annexed the provinces of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina (§ 428). Russia resented this 
action, but was powerless to do much more than protest 
when the Germans " shook their swords in their scab- 
bards." In 1914, when Austria threatened Serbia, Rus- 
sia refused to be intimidated again (§434). The result 
all the world knows, because the Great War broke out 
within a week after this action. This subject is of such 
importance that it deserves careful and separate study. 1 

325. War and Revolution. — To a remarkable degree 
the first year of the war showed the Russian peoples and 
classes to be rather closely united. For a time at least, 
the people of Finland, Ukrainia, and even of Poland, 
forgot their grievances against the Russian government 
and supported the war. Even the parties which had been 
agitating reform, including most of the numerous socialist 
groups, ceased to interfere with the government during 
the crisis ; but, later on, when the imperial authorities 
proved incapable of managing the war, and even of keeping 
the people provided with food, the limited patience of the 
Russians gave way. In 1916 protests were made against 
the pro-German attitude of the tsarina, who was a German 
princess before she married the tsar, and of the foreign 
minister, who desired a separate peace with Germany. 
He was removed from office, but dissatisfaction with the 
government continued to grow. 

So great was the unrest that on March 10, 1917, the tsar 
dissolved the duma. But when food riots occurred in 
and around Petrograd, and an insurrection of the workmen 
was only a question of time, the duma met again, without 
the tsar's consent. On March 15 Nicholas II abdicated 
for himself and his son. A provisional government was 

i Chapter XXII. 






ECONOMIC REFORM 



413 



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£» 1'*' 

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O 



414 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

formed, but as early as May the Council of Soldiers and 
Workmen's Delegates really took control of the govern- 
ment. Almost as soon as the arbitrary rule of the 
Romanoffs was ended, Russia separated into her com- 
ponent parts, and there were movements toward independ- 
ence in Finland, the Baltic provinces, Poland, Ukrainia, 
and the Caucasus region. The promptness with which the 
dissolution took place showed that by no mere figure of 
speech had the emperor held the title "Tsar of all the 
Russias." On September 15 the head of the new govern- 
ment, Ker-en'sky, proclaimed a republic. Elections were 
held for members of a constituent assembly, but when 
it tried to meet, it was immediately dissolved by the Bol- 
she-vi'ki, a radical socialist group, supported and con- 
trolled by the Germans, which had overthrown Kerensky. 
Peace 326. The Russian Collapse. — The Bolsheviki advo- 

treaties cated peace at any price. Nevertheless, they slaughtered 

Russians by their opponents by thousands in the streets of Petrograd 
Germany. an( j g j ew man y ther thousands in their attempt to main- 
tain their authority over Finland and Ukrainia. The 
army, which had been gradually melting away, was 
intentionally broken up, especially after an armistice 
was made with the Germans. Farcical negotiations 
for peace between the Bolsheviki and Germany occurred 
in the fortress of Brest-Li-tovsk', within the German 
lines. Meanwhile the Germans made a treaty with the 
new Republic of Ukrainia, for the Ukrainians were glad 
to make a separate peace, even on unfavorable terms, 
providing their " independence " was acknowledged. 
The German army immediately began to overrun Ukrainia. 
The " Republic " of Finland was also recognized by the 
Germans and supported to some extent by German 
armies. Poland and the Baltic provinces, not daring to 
voice a protest, were declared by the Germans to have 
acquiesced in domination by Germany. When the 



ECONOMIC REFORM 415 

German armies began to march into Russia proper, the 
Bolsheviki leaders, who had tried, without success, to be- 
tray their German employers accepted the harsh German 
peace terms ; but the Germans continued to advance. 

True to their socialist principles, the Bolsheviki con- Bolsheviki 
fiscated the royal lands of Russia and most if not all of the poli ^ ies and 

J m m problems. 

property of the nobles. They intended to divide these 
lands among peasants who had very little. It is impos- 
sible at the time (September, 1918) to forecast what the 
future holds in store for poor Russia, in disorder and in 
turmoil ; but it seems probable that, although the Germans 
have lost their hold on the country, the new Russia will not 
be organized easily or quickly. 

327. Summary. — The Russia of 1815, like that of a Russia be- 
century later, was an empire arbitrarily ruled by the fore 1890 ' 
Romanoffs and made up of Great Russia, Little Russia, 
and South Russia, which are the chief districts of Ukrainia, 
West Russia, Poland, the Baltic provinces, and Finland, 
besides the Caucasus region west of the Caspian sea, and 
Siberia in Asia. Poland was united with Russia after 1815 
through the person of the tsar. The revolt of the Poles in 
1830 led to the loss of their constitution ; that of 1863 
caused Russia to abolish Polish literature and laws and in 
other ways to carry out in Poland a policy of " Russifi- 
cation." The problem of Poland was once more made 
acute by the Great War. Alexander II introduced many 
reforms in Russia proper, including the emancipation of 
the serfs and the creation of popular assemblies. 

When the serfs were freed, they received land, but until Economic 
the land was paid for, the peasant was practically a " serf reform and 
of the state." During the last part of the nineteenth ment. 
century, important industrial changes occurred in Russia. 
Capital was obtained, largely from France through the 
Dual Alliance, industry expanded, especially in all of the 
large cities, and the natural resources of Russia were 



416 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Recent 
changes 
in Russia. 



developed. Foreign trade naturally grew apace, and 
internal transportation facilities were improved, chiefly 
through government-owned railroads. 

The attempted " Russification " of the congeries of 
peoples who made up Russia added to the economic 
unrest which was caused by the industrial revolution 
and by the lack of sufficient land and food. When Russia 
was defeated in the war with Japan, the people began to 
organize and to demand reforms. In a series of promises 
culminating in that of October 30, 1905, constitutional 
government was assured, but the dumas, or national 
parliaments, were not allowed to make reforms as prom- 
ised and were arbitrarily dissolved. After the treaty 
of Berlin in 1878 (§ 410), and the formation of an Alli- 
ance between Germany and Austria, Russia naturally 
feared trouble with those two western neighbors. That 
a conflict was avoided was due to .the refusal of Russia 
to accept any challenge until 1914 ; then her failure to 
back down on the Serbian problem was the first act in 
that terrible drama which we know as the Great War. In 
the war Russia gave a fairly good account of herself until 
1917, when internal troubles led to the abdication of 
Nicholas II and temporary governments were formed. 
One of these, controlled by the Bolsheviki, a pro-German 
socialist faction, was in power when Finland, Ukrainia, 
and other parts of the empire separated. Each part in 
turn submitted apparently to a peace, favorable to them, 
but disastrous to Russia because " made in Germany." 



General References 

Hazen, Modern European History, 558-571, 585-589. 

Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, 
11,338-381. 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 
452-489. 

Ogg, Economic Development of Modern Europe, 315-340. 



ECONOMIC REFORM 417 

Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 181 4, 578-615. 

Cambridge Modern History, XI, 613-634, XII, 294-380. 

Skrine, Expansion of Russia. 

Milyoukov, Russia and its Crisis. 

Rambaud, History of Russia, III. 

Alexinsky, Modern Russia. 

Wallace, Russia. 

Palmer, Russian Life in Town and Country. 

Williams, Russia of the Russians. 

Mavor, An Economic History of Russia, II. 



Topics 

Russification of Poland : Seignobos, Political History of 
Europe since 1814, 597-603; 611-612; Skrine, Expansion of 
Russia, 201-213 ; Phillips, Poland, 149-176. 

Emancipation of the Serfs : Skrine, Expansion of Russia, 
178-191 ; Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814, 
591-596 ; Ogg, Economic Development of Modern Europe, 318- 
327; WaUace, Russia, 485-509. 

The Revolution of 1905 : Robinson and Beard, Develop- 
ment of Modern Europe, II, 287-297 ; Cambridge Modern History, 
XII, 348-363 ; Mavor, An Economic History of Russia, II, 
437-503. 

Studies 

1. Local self-government in Russia after 1864. Vinagradoff, 
S elf-Government in Russia, 50-70. 

2. The terrorists in Russia. Cambridge Modern History, 
XII, 305-314. 

3. The Russian peasant. Gerrare, Greater Russia, 40-46. 

4. The mir (commune) and the peasants. Williams, Russia 
of the Russians, 345-350, 356-368. 

5. Some peasant characteristics. Palmer, Russian Life in 
Town and Country, 95-112. 

6. The landed proprietor's home. Palmer, Russian Life 
in Town and Country, 8-19. 

7. The agrarian question. Alexinsky, Modern Russia, 
138-154. 

8. Agrarian situation since 1906. Mavor, An Economic 
History of Russia, II, 347-361. 

2e 



418 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

9. Siberian exile system. Latimer, Russia and Turkey in 
the Nineteenth Century, 303-312. 

10. Russian labor movement since emancipation. Mavor, 
An Economic History of Russia, II, 413-429. 

11. The Russian peasants' standard of living. Milyoukov, 
Russia and its Crisis, 439-452. 

12. Recent industrial changes in Russia. Ogg, Economic 
Development of Modern Europe, 329-334. 

13. Trade and industry. Williams, Russia of the Russians, 
373-388. 

14. Foreign trade of Russia. Whelpley, Trade of the World, 
313-318, 328-339. 

15. Economic problems of the Russians. Milyoukov, Russia 
and its Crisis, 452-466. 

16. Russia after the Revolution of 1905. Alexinsky, Modern 
Russia, 272-294. 

17. The first duma. Cambridge Modern History, XII, 
364-369. 

18. The socialist factions in Russia in the early twentieth 
century. Current History VII (1917), 265-267. 

19. What the world owes to Russia. Sarolea, Europe's 
Debt to Russia, 53-95. 

Questions 

1. Why was the title "tsar of all the Russias" a good one 
for the ruler of the Russian empire before 1917? Name some 
of the different Russias, giving location and characteristics of 
each. 

2. Give in outline the history of Poland before 1815. What 
was the status of Poland from 1815 to 1830? What effect did 
the revolutions of 1830 and 1863 have upon her relations with 
Russia? Explain the process of "Russification" for Poland. 
What has happened to Poland since the Great War broke out? 
What is the present problem of Poland? In your opinion what 
should be done with Poland after the great conflict ? 

3. If possible, name one reform of Nicholas I. Why was 
Alexander II called the "tsar liberator"? What other reforms 
were inaugurated by Alexander II? Who were the "terror- 
ists" ? What was the "third section" ? What do you mean by 
"political exiles"? 

4. Compare the emancipation of the serfs in Russia with the 
abolition of serfdom in western continental Europe (Chapter X). 



ECONOMIC REFORM 419 

Why are many peasants still "serfs of the state"? What 
would be the effect on the peasants of the Bolsheviki plan of 
distributing among the poorer peasants the royal lands and those 
of the nobles? 

•5. Where did Russia get her capital for her industrial revolu- 
tions? What has been the effect of the economic changes of 
the last third of a century upon the growth of factories, upon 
the development of an artisan class, and upon the creation of a 
labor problem ? 

6. Was Russia a nation in the early twentieth century? 
If she was not, name some changes which would have helped 
to make her a nation. Name several causes for the growing 
unrest in Russia before 1905. How did the unions of students, 
workers, and political leaders pave the way for revolution? 

7. Trace in detail the steps by which the revolution of 1905 
developed. What promises were made by the tsar, October 30, 
1905 ? Which of them did he keep ? Which duma was elected 
indirectly by popular vote? Which alone was- able to make 
any reforms? 

8. Why did Russia's enmity for England give way to that 
with Germany? Why did the Balkan situation make Russia 
and Austria natural enemies (§ 429) ? What was the attitude of 
the Russian peoples and dissatisfied factions toward the govern- 
ment in the Great War ? 

9. What failures of the government or the army, and what 
intrigues, started the revolution of 1917? Name in order the 
effect of each of the following : the March meeting of the duma, 
abdication of the tsar, activities of the Council for Workmen's 
and Soldiers' Delegates in July, Kerensky, the Bolsheviki. 

10. What parts of Russia separated in 1917? Which tried 
to establish republics? Which made treaties with Germany 
and were recognized by Germany? What advantages did the 
Russias gain from the treaties of peace made with Germany? 

11. Give, in outline form, events in Russia since the spring of 
1918. 



CHAPTER XVI 



GREAT BRITAIN BEFORE 1865 
England Before 1820 



Attempt of 
George III 
to restore 
personal 
govern- 
ment. 



328. Parliamentary versus Personal Government (1760- 
1784). — We have already noted (§ 42) the beginnings of 
cabinet government under the early rulers of the house of 
Hanover. Since George I and George II, who ruled 

Great Britain 
from 1715 to 
1760, were Ger- 
mans and were 
not well ac- 
quainted with 
the affairs of 
England, they 
naturally left 
the conduct of 
state business 
to their minis- 
ters. When 
George III 
came to the 
throne, he was 
anxious to re- 
store the personal rule of the king, similar to that ex- 
ercised by William III after the Revolution of 1688 
(§ 38). This attempt to establish the personal gov- 
ernment of the king rather than to allow Parliament to 
rule through ministers responsible to it lasted for nearly 

420 




George III 



ENGLAND BEFORE 1820 421 

a quarter of a century. George III built up a party of 
his own, called " The King's Friends," who tried to man- 
age the government for their monarch. In the period 
of the American Revolution (1763-1783) the policy of 
George III in England and in the colonies was opposed 
not only by the Americans but by the " opposition " in 
England. The king, however, under the amiable and 
compliant prime minister, Lord North, was able to carry 
through his scheme until the battle of Yorktown (1781). 

With American independence inevitable, Lord North Further 
resigned and new ministries were formed which repre- devel °P~ 
sented the Parliament rather than the king, especially cabinet 
under William Pitt the Younger, who was at the head of go ^ t rn " 
the English cabinet most of the time from 1784 to his 
death in 1806. In other words, the success of our Revo- 
lutionary War made it impossible for George III to re- 
establish the personal rule of the monarch in Great 
Britain and forced him to appoint his ministers from the 
party which had a majority in the House of Commons. 
Although the cabinet system of government in Great 
Britain was not developed as fully or as perfectly as it is 
to-day (§ 359), nevertheless the British Isles and Empire 
were ruled under ministerial or " responsible " government. 

329. The Napoleonic Wars. — The English people Antago- 
had always looked upon themselves as the freest and ^Frenc^ 
most advanced politically of the European nations. It Revolution 
is interesting to notice therefore with what disapproval and wars 
they watched the development of the French Revolution France, 
after 1789. They showed little actual sympathy with 
the French ideas of " liberty, equality, fraternity," un- 
doubtedly on account of the excesses of the French revo- 
lutionists. In spite of the fact that the English people 
had put to death one of their own monarchs, Charles I 
(§ 31), when the French nation executed its king, 
Louis XVI, in 1793 (§ 135), England immediately began 



422 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Naval 
policies, 
taxation, 
and effect 
on land 
ownership. 



war on France. This war, as already related in some 
detail, lasted without interruption until the peace of 
Amiens (1802) (§ 145), and after an interval of one year 
was renewed again. As already explained in connection 
with the continental system (§§ 151-153), the war for a 
number of years was chiefly between Napoleon and the 
English merchants, and it proved conclusively that Napo- 
leon could not fight successfully against expanding Eng- 
lish trade. With the final overthrow of Napoleon at 

Waterloo in 1815 
(§ 158), the twenty 
years' conflict be- 
tween England and 
France came to a 
close. 

In these wars, Eng- 
land followed her 
traditional policy l of 
concentrating her at- 
tention upon her 
navy and sought with 
ever increasing suc- 
cess to maintain su- 
premacy on the sea, 
realizing that her 
insular position made control of the sea necessary to 
her own safety, to the prosperity of her colonial empire, 
and to her continued success as a great world power. 
The maintenance of an immense navy and the granting 
of subsidies to her continental allies meant the levying of 




William Pitt the Younger 



1 In the days of the Armada, and the War of the Spanish Succes- 
sion, and the Seven Years' War, England allied herself with European 
countries against the great Power of the age. To these continental 
allies she granted ever-increasing sums of money, but in no case, until 
the Great War which broke out in 1914, did she furnish many soldiers 
for the European conflict. 



ENGLAND BEFORE 1820 423 

heavy taxes, especially under the administrations of the 
great war minister, Pitt. Two things enabled England, 
especially during the Napoleonic period, to carry this 
heavy financial burden, first the Industrial Revolution, 1 
and secondly the increased use and productivity of the 
soil. The land was made to pay a very high tax. This 
taxation made it easy for the great landowners, who could 
afford to pay heavy taxes, to buy up the lands of the 
smaller farmers. Professor Vi-no-gra'doff says land mo- 
nopoly, that is, control of lands by the aristocracy, was 
one price which Great Britain had to pay for her empire. 

330. The Return of Peace. — Return of peace ordi- Unfavor- 
narilv means greater prosperity. This was not the case a ^ le 

, D . changes in 

with the United Kingdom after 1815. Because of her conditions 
control of the sea, English commerce had been extensive a 1816# 
in the preceding years, agriculture had been exceedingly 
prosperous, prices had been high, and work had been 
fairly plentiful. After 1815, however, conditions changed. 
There was no longer need of cultivating the poor fields, 
and large areas were allowed to lie waste. Because 
many soldiers and sailors were seeking work, there was a 
great deal of unemployment in every line of industry." 
The price of bread, although much lower than during 
the later Napoleonic wars, was high enough to cause great 
distress among the common people, but not high enough 

1 The Industrial Revolution (Chapter IX) made it possible for Eng- 
land to produce textiles, iron, and machines much more cheaply than 
could any of her rivals. Consequently her trade expanded greatly. In 
1815 her exports were 150 per cent larger than they had been twenty 
years earlier. Even Napoleon by the continental system could not keep 
the other European peoples from buying cheap English goods. A second 
source of revenue was the land of England. On account of the agrarian 
revolution (§ 186) this had become exceedingly productive. During 
the Napoleonic wars so great had been the demand for food that prac- 
tically all arable land in England was under cultivation. Rents were 
exceedingly high, and, partly because of the enclosure system and other 
causes explained above (§ 185), land was used to better advantage than 
before. 



424 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



to afford any real relief to the farmers. In order to make 
the cultivation of fields profitable, the landed aristocracy 
secured from Parliament a law which prohibited the im- 
portation of wheat until it sold for at least ten shillings 
a bushel, which was equivalent to $5.00 per bushel in 
America to-day. If the price went higher, wheat might 
be imported by paying a heavy duty. The duty was 
levied according to a graduated scale, the rate or duty 
being lowered as the price rose. This tariff, or " corn 
law," added still further to the distress of the wage- 
earning classes. 

331. Discontent, Disorder, and the Six Acts. — 
Throughout England and Scotland riots occurred. At 
one point fifteen hundred men gathered with a banner 
marked " bread or blood." They did not kill any one, 
but five of the ringleaders were hanged for rioting. In 
and around London the mob vented its displeasure upon 
the Duke of Wellington and the foreign minister, the 
most prominent men in the English government. In 
the industrial districts weavers and others who were un- 
employed made attacks upon the factories and destroyed 
the machinery, since they believed that the machinery 
had thrown them out of work. Scotland witnessed even 
greater disorder. 

In 1818, a huge mass meeting was held near Man- 
chester to protest against the distress of the times and 
against the failure of the government to give relief. 
The local magistrates were ordered to disperse the crowd. 
When they failed, the hussars were called in. They 
rode among the people, striking them with their swords ; 
a panic occurred, and a number of lives were lost. This is 
popularly known in English history as the Peterloo 



massacre. 



Instead of bringing relief from the aristocratic govern- 
ment, this " massacre " had the opposite effect, for Par- 



POLITICAL REFORM 



425 



Iiament immediately passed the objectionable " Six 
Acts," which were intended to prevent seditious publi- 
cations, large assemblies, and the arming of citizens. 
Naturally the government was less popular than before 
because it had seemed to deny the right of assemblage 
and of free speech. 



Political Reform (1820-1865) 

332. Parliamentary Reform before 1830. — Since the Rotten 
days of the first Edwards 1 Parliament had been com- borou gkf. 

and politi- 

posed of two houses, the House of Commons, made up cai corrup- 
tion in the 
eighteenth 
century. 




Canvassing for Votes before 1832 (After Hogarth) 

of county members and of representatives of the towns or 
boroughs, and the House of Lords, spiritual and temporal. 
More than five sixths of the members of the House of 
Commons were from boroughs. The majority of the 
members of the House of Commons were chosen not by the 
people at all, but by a few nobles whose nomination was 
' E. E. C, § 591. 



426 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Special need 
of parlia- 
mentary 
reform 
after 1800. 



Reforms 
and changes 
after 1820. 



practically equivalent to an election. The Duke of 
Norfolk alone was able to send eleven representatives to 
the lower house. In Scotland and in Ireland members 
of Parliament were chosen in much the same way. Under 
these circumstances, it is not strange that Walpole (§ 42) 
and George III were able to buy control of the House of 
Commons. 

After the Industrial Revolution, when population 
shifted rapidly into the northern and western counties 
(§ 193), the reform of Parliament was much more neces- 
sary than before. There was no good reason why Corn- 
wall should have forty-four members, while Middlesex 
(including the great city of London) had only eight. 
There was even less reason why old Sarum without any 
inhabitants and Dunwich buried under the sea should 
send members to Parliament, whereas Manchester, Leeds, 
and Birmingham, each with about one hundred thousand 
people, had none. 1 

Real reform of the House of Commons began with the 
period after 1820 when Sir John Russell each year intro- 
duced a bill on the subject, The actual reorganization, 
however, did not take place until 1832. In the mean- 
time George III had died (1820) and his son, who had 
really been ruler as regent since 1810, occupied the 
throne as George IV until 1830. The change of monarch 
had little influence, but the times were favorable to many 
reformers other than political ; some of these were reli- 
gious (§338) or humanitarian (§§339-341). In 1830 
George IV died and was succeeded by his brother, 



1 Oliver Cromwell had reorganized the House of Commons, doing 
away with the most glaring inequalities in his day, but most of his re- 
forms were discarded after the Restoration (1660). In the time of the 
Revolutionary War those reformers who opposed George III naturally 
wished to reform the House of Commons, but Parliament refused to con- 
sider their proposals, or later those of so influential a man as William 
Pitt the Younger. 



POLITICAL REFORM 427 

William IV, the close of whose short reign, in 1837, 
brought to the throne his niece, Victoria. 

333. First Action for Reform of Parliament (1830- New relief 
1831). — In 1830 the Whig party was returned to power, p^ 1 ™^ 
The Whig leader, Lord Grey, warned Parliament that on reform, 
account of the spirit of the times (§ 216) the members 
must choose between reform and revolution. The retir- 
ing prime minister, the Duke of Wellington, argued on 
the contrary that the " state of the representation could 
not be improved." The new Whig ministry embodied 
its ideas in the first reform bill, which granted the right 
to vote to copyholders, leaseholders, and householders, 
provided for the partial or complete disfranchisement of 
most of the " rotten boroughs," and the granting of mem- 
bers to the large towns. Some of the more radical 
Whig ministers wished to have a secret ballot, but Eng- 
land was not prepared for so decided a change. 

In the spring of 1831, the first reform bill was brought Therejec- 
before the House of Commons. The Tory members * 10I J of the 

J . first reform 

received it at first with amusement and derision and nick- bill and a 
named it " Russell's Purge," but they quickly found new . 
reason for taking it seriously. In the largest vote taken 
in years they defeated the measure by a majority of only 
eight. The Whig ministry then decided to resign and call 
a new election, because they believed the people wanted 
reform. The whole country rang with the cry, " The 
Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill." 1 The 
new election was a decided victory for the reformers. 

On June 24, 1831, Sir John Russell introduced the second 
reform bill, which was similar to the first. In September, 

1 The press was strongly in favor of it, the mass of people urged it, 
and even the lowest classes, who derived no immediate benefit from it, 
held great meetings for the purpose of carrying it through. Practically 
all members elected in the counties favored the proposed reform, but of 
course those who were returned from the pocket boroughs were almost 
unitedly opposed to it. 



428 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Rejection 
of the 
second bill 
and 
agitation. 



The king 
gives per- 
mission to 
add new 
peers to 
the House 
of Lords. 



Enactment 
of the 
third 
reform bill. 



it passed the House of Commons by a majority of more 
than one hundred, but a month later it was rejected 
by the House of Lords. The effect upon the nation 
was instantaneous. In London sixty thousand people 
marched on the palace of the king with a petition for 
the bill. In Birmingham more than one hundred 
thousand gathered. Sober-minded people of the middle 
classes talked of refusing to pay taxes till the Lords 
yielded. Even the abolition of the House of Lords was 
mentioned. In London and in other cities, several of the 
peers, that is, members of the House of Lords, were 
attacked by the mobs on the streets. 

334. The Reform Act of 1832. — Instead of resigning and 
calling a new election, the Whig ministry decided to modify 
the bill slightly. The third reform bill was passed by a 
large majority in the House of Commons, but the House 
of Lords did not yield. The cabinet therefore asked the 
king to create a few new peers, whose votes would carry 
the measure through the House of Lords, but the king was 
not yet willing to take so radical a step ; instead, he ac- 
cepted the resignation of Grey and his colleagues. When, 
however, he found that neither Peel, Wellington, nor any 
other Tory could form a new ministry, he recalled Grey 
and handed to one of the members of the new cabinet a 
slip of paper containing these words : 

The king grants permission to Lord Grey and his chancellor 
Lord Brougham to create such a number of peers as will be suffi- 
cient to insure the passage of a Reform Bill, first calling peers' 
eldest sons. 

William R. 
Windsor, May 17, 1832. ' 

There was, however, no need to use this power. Revo- 
lutionary as the bill itself was, it would be less revolution- 
ary than such a forced change in the composition in the 
House of Lords. The third reform bill was therefore 
passed by the House of Lords and signed by the king. 



POLITICAL REFORM 429 

In its final form the bill deprived 86 of the smaller Provisions 
boroughs of 142 members, increased the number of mem- ^ * he 
bers sent by the counties from 92 to 159, gave to eighteen Act. 
other towns and four districts in London two members 
each, and to twenty other towns one member each. 
The right to vote was extended. County members were 
to be elected thereafter by the owners, the copyholders, 
and the leaseholders of lands worth £10 per year. 1 For 
borough voters a new uniform requirement was now 
made, namely, that all who owned or rented a building 
worth £10 a year should have the right to vote. Elec- 
tions which had often occupied more than two weeks were 
now limited to two days. 

These changes in the franchise were not so radical as importance 
one would have expected, since the bill dealt less with *° f * he 
suffrage than with the distribution of seats. The reform Act of 
in representation, however, was not the greatest change 1832 - 
brought about by the bill. The enactment of the Reform 
Act of 1832 is important in English history chiefly be- 
cause, after that time, the House of Lords was no longer 
able to control easily the House of Commons, since 
peers no longer dominated the election of commoners ; 
and the House of Commons, which now represented the 
real wishes of the people much more fully than before, 
became the chief national body connected with the govern- 
ment, and controlled the actions of ministries as well as 
of lords and monarch. 

335. Further Reform (1832-1835). — As would natu- Reforms 
rally be expected, the reforming spirit of the times did and par * y 
not stop with the Act of 1832, especially as the parlia- zation. 
ments after the Reform Act were more interested in social 

1 Tenants at will were allowed to vote if their rents were worth £50 
a year. A copyholder was apparently a tenant at will, but he really had 
a premature tenure because his tenant rights were protected by custom 
and recorded (copied) in the records of the manor or parish. 



430 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Specific 
reforms. 



Municipal 
reform 
act (1835). 



The "six 

points" of 
Chartism. 



and political improvements than their predecessors had 
been. Reforms that had been discussed for years were 
now carried through, chiefly by the support of a reformed 
Whig party, which was later reorganized as the Liberal 
party, and in spite of the opposition of the old Tory party, 
which found it wise after a few years to take the name 
Conservative. 

Among the reforms that were enacted within a short 
time after 1832 were the emancipation of slaves, the pro- 
tection of workers in factories (§ 341), a remodeled poor 
law (§ 490), and a number of political reforms, the most 
important of which was the new Municipal Corporation 
Act (1835). 

Before this time; there had been no uniformity among 
the towns not only regarding the right to vote, but in the 
organization of the municipal government or the admin- 
istration of municipal affairs. Thereafter the cities and 
towns were ruled under a uniform law. All tax payers 
had the right to elect a board of councilors, who held 
office for three years. These councilors in turn elected 
the aldermen, whose term was six years, and the aldermen 
and councilors together chose a mayor for a term of one 
year. Other reforms in municipal administration natu- 
rally followed these changes in the form of government. 

336- The Chartists. — Very little had been done by 
these laws for the working people, whose demands were 
now embodied in a " People's Charter." The advocates 
of these changes, known as the " six points," were called 
" Chartists." Their demands were as follows : No 
property qualification for members of Parliament, pay- 
ment of members, annual Parliaments, equal electoral 
districts for the election of members to Parliament, man- 
hood suffrage, and vote by ballot. In 1839 a monster 
petition was brought before the House of Commons ask- 
ing that these " six points " be granted. There was 



POLITICAL REFORM 431 

disorder in many places. The trouble, however, did not 
culminate in anything serious and the crisis passed. 

Several times in later years Chartism was revived, Revival of 
notably in 1842, and at the time of the Revolutions of Chartlsm - 
1848. In the latter year a new petition, far larger 
than the first, was prepared. The Chartists claimed five 
million signatures, but an examination of the names 
showed that the number was undoubtedly less than 
two millions. The Chartists held a large assembly and 
planned an immense procession to carry this petition 
before Parliament, but when they found that the govern- 
ment objected, the petition was sent in a cab to the House 
of Commons. So ended the Chartist movement. 

During those years there was also continued agitation Reforms in 
for the repeal of the corn laws (§ 342) and for other reforms. the fortles - 
It will thus be seen that the period from 1828-1848 is 
important in the history of Great Britain because the 
government was modernized and many things were 
done for the relief of the poorer and more oppressed 
classes. 

337. Victoria and Palmerston. — With these political The queen, 
and social reforms, and even with the foreign relations of he f char " 

° acter, mar- 

Great Britain, the popular young queen, Victoria, had riage, and 

very little to do. Coming to the throne in 1837 as a girl interests - 
without experience in public affairs, she quickly won the 
love and confidence of her people by those sterling quali- 
ties of character which she always displayed. Her mar- 
riage to her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, was 
really a love match, and Victoria's interest in her own 
children and attachment to her home did more by example 
for the English people than anything that she might have 
attempted to do in connection with politics. 1 

1 Although the English monarch reigns but does not govern, Queen 
Victoria aiways insisted that nothing important should be done without 
her knowledge. Her son, Edward VII (1901-1910), conferred with his 
ministers very frequently and often influenced their actions. 



432 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Offices and 
great work 
of Palmer- 
ston. 



In connection with foreign affairs the influence of 
Palmerston l was probably greater than that of any other 
foreign minister that England ever had. During half 

of his active political 
career, which covered 
more than a half cen- 
tury, he was in actual 
charge of the foreign 
relations of Great Brit- 
ain. Although, during 
the later years of his 
life, he was opposed to 
further reform within 
England, he used his 
immense influence to 
promote the cause of 
the liberals on the Con- 
tinent. The Belgian 
people (§ 283) in 1830 owed their independence largely 
to his help, and it is not too much to say that the liberals 
in the Revolutions of 1848 would have had greater diffi- 
culties but for Palmerston. It is unquestionable that 
the cause of united Italy found in him as great a friend 
as it found in Louis Napoleon. 




Lord Palmerston 



Creation of 
new gulfs 
between 
rich and 
poor. 



Social Reforms before 1865 

338. Limitations on Religious Liberty (1800). — At 

the beginning of the nineteenth century parliamentary 
reform was much less necessary in Great Britain than 
were a very large number of social and economic reforms. 
Although there were comparatively few survivals of old 

1 Among the distinguished ministers of this period were the Liberal 
leaders, Grey, Russell, and Palmerston. Peel, who afterward joined 
Palmerston and was at heart a great reformer, might be called the leading 
Conservative of the time. 



establish- 
ment. 



SOCIAL REFORMS 433 

privileges and abuses from the Middle Ages, nevertheless 
the common people had few rights. The changes of the 
Industrial Revolution had caused inequalities between 
the rich and powerful, on the one hand, and the poor 
worker, on the other, greater than had existed in preced- 
ing centuries. 

As a result of the intolerance of the sixteenth and seven- Removal of 
teenth centuries, the only citizens who had full rights ^ bait' 
were members of the established Anglican Church, and dis- 
Neither land nor offices could legally be held by Catholics ; 
no public offices were open to Presbyterians, Quakers, 
or Methodists. Most of these religious disabilities were 
removed by the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 
(§ 35) (1828) and by Catholic Emancipation (1829), by 
which Catholics were allowed to become members of Par- 
liament. Established Anglican churches, however, were 
maintained at public expense in Ireland until 1869, in spite 
of the fact that most of the Irish were Catholics or Pres- 
byterians, in Wales until 1914, and in England to the 
present time. 1 

339. Freedom of the Press and Treatment of Crimi- Freedom of 
nals. — Not only was religious toleration not extended s ^ eech and 

assembly. 

to all classes in 1800, but freedom of speech and of the Newspaper 
press, and the right to assemble peaceably was denied restnctlons - 
frequently in fact, if not by law. We have already noted 
the six acts (§ 331) which were extreme measures denying 
some of these rights. We should also realize that, al- 
though the law permitted freedom of the press, actually 
editors were not allowed to express themselves so freely 
as they did in later years, and after 1819 the heavy tax 
of eight cents a copy on newspapers was extended to com- 
paratively small leaflets and pamphlets. This " tax on 

1 An established church is supported by taxation at public expense, 
but in modern times compulsory attendance at its service is not 
required. 

2f 



434 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Limitation 
of the 
numbers of 
crimes 
punishable 
by death. 



knowledge " was reduced to two cents in 1836, but was 
not finally abolished until a quarter century later. In 
1861, the tax on print paper was removed at the 
suggestion of Gladstone, after a struggle between the 
House of Commons and the House of Lords. There- 
after newspapers and books were sold much cheaper and 
in much larger numbers. 

As we noted above (§ 95), the criminal law of England 
was becoming constantly more severe during the reign 

of the first Georges. 
By the beginning 
of the nineteenth 
century, the num- 
ber of crimes pun- 
ishable by death 
was more than two 
hundred. Some of 
these were of an 
exceedingly trivial 
nature, such as 
picking pockets 
and petty thefts 
from stores. That 
the law was not 
applied strictly is 
shown by the fact 
that although, in 
1810, 5146 cases 
were tried and 476 offenders were sentenced to death,- 
only 67 were executed. In 1820 the most unjust laws 
making petty offenses punishable by death were repealed 
in Parliament. During the next three years, largely 
through the influence of Sir Robert Peel, several laws 
were passed by which capital offenses were reduced to 
less than one half the former number. In later years 




Sir Robert Peel 



SOCIAL REFORMS 435 

still further reductions were made, until soon after the 
middle of the century the number of crimes punishable 
by death was very small. 

340. Legislation for Chimney Sweeps and Other Ap- Need of 
prentices. — During this period England passed the earliest ^id ° r 
modern laws for the protection of labor, but the first pub- chimney 
lie relief was granted not to the workers in the factories, sweeps - 
but to the children who were employed in all large 
cities as chimney sweeps. Since the chimneys were quite 
small, some of them considerably less than ten inches 
across, only very small boys could climb them and 
remove the soot. In consequence the masters used 
children, who were sometimes as young as five years, 
in this filthy, dangerous, and unpleasant business. 
Usually children became deformed if they were employed 
for any length of time climbing chimneys. Their lungs 
were injured by the constant breathing of soot, and 
their joints became sore and inflamed from pressure 
against the projecting bricks. 

In 1788 the first law was passed for the protection of Provisions 
these child workers. This law prohibited the employ- j^J 1 ^ i7gg 
ment of boys under the age of eight, did not allow any 
master to have more than six apprentices, and compelled 
him to provide each boy "with Sunday clothes" as 
well as with a working suit. Complaints of the boys 
might be brought before the courts and the law exhorted 
the master to " treat the said apprentices with as much 
humanity and care as the nature of the employment of 
the chimney sweep should admit of." 

The first demand for laws to protect factory workers The "first" 
did not come from the public nor from the workers them- law J 01 * . the 

^ protection 

selves ; they were suggested by a large-hearted manu- of labor. 
facturer. The first act applied not to workers in 
general nor even to all children, but simply to child ap- 
prentices, most of whom came from workhouses. This 



436 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Long hours 
and hard- 
ships of 
factory 
work. 



The law of 
1819 for 
protection 
of children. 



law of 1802 was simply one of a long series of apprentice- 
ship laws ; but it is usually considered the first important 
protective legislation in any country for the benefit of 
the modern worker. This law did not allow factory owners 
to employ as apprentices children under the age of ten 
years for more than twelve hours a day. There was 
to be no night work, and instruction in the three R's 
was to be given each apprentice every day. 

341. Reform for Factory Workers. — The evils of 
factory life did not attract general attention at first, but 
before many years Parliament became interested and 
appointed a number of committees, from whose reports 
we can get a good, if not absolutely unbiased, idea of 
necessary reforms. According to the report made in 
1816, " It was a common practice when the woolen trade 
was going on to work sixteen hours a day . . . Many 
mills were worked from three to four o'clock in the morn- 
ing until nine o'clock at night." Employees testified 
of girl workers that " as late as 1832, in the brisk time for 
about six weeks, they have gone about three o'clock in 
the morning and ended at ten or nearly halfpast at 
night," and that the common hours of labor were from 
six in the morning until eight- thirty at night. They 
asserted further that, although time was left out for 
meals, children were frequently obliged to spend those 
moments in cleaning or fixing machinery. 

The law of 1802 had not provided any relief for children 
who lived with their parents. Consequently in 1816 
Robert Owen, a successful manufacturer who had made 
reforms for the children of his own factory, asked Parlia- 
ment to protect these child workers also, since their 
parents were not able to do so. The reports by parlia- 
mentary committees on the extraordinarily long hours 
and terrible conditions of the workers had their effect; 
a bill was passed in 1819 which forbade the employment in 



SOCIAL REFORMS 



437 



cotton mills of any children under nine and prohibited work 
more than twelve hours a day for children under sixteen. 
No provision, however, was made for adequate inspection 
of the factories or for proper enforcement of the law. 

At the time of the reform movement of the thirties, 
the humanitarian leaders demanded many reforms, in- 
cluding a ten-hour day for all women and children. The 
law of 1833 did not grant this, but it did prohibit the 
labor of children under nine years of age, except in silk 
mills, it limited the hours of older children, 1 and it 
prohibited night work for all children; but nothing was 
done for women. About ten years later (1844-1847) 
new laws were passed which prohibited night labor for 
young people and women, and allowed them to work 
only ten hours a day. 2 

Although legislation for mine workers was enacted in 
France as early as 1813 (§ 213), in England there was 
none as late as 1842. When a government commission 
reported in that year that women and girls were employed 
in mining at hard tasks, 3 a protective law was passed. 

1 This law limited hours of children under thirteen to nine a day or 
forty-eight a week, and insisted upon two hours a day schooling. 
Boys and girls from thirteen to eighteen were allowed to work twelve 
hours a day but not more than sixty-nine a week. 

2 By the law of 1844 children from eight to thirteen could not be 
employed more than six and a half hours daily. Inspectors were provided 
and dangerous machinery was to be safeguarded. The second act 
limited the hours of women and young persons to ten a day and eight on 
Saturdays. It applied to about two thirds of all persons employed in 
the factories and mills. When a later law defined a work day as the period 
from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., it was possible to enforce this legislation and really 
to protect these workers. 

3 The commission stated that although only a few districts in England 
permitted women and girls to work in mines, a very large proportion of 
the persons employed in these mines were under thirteen years of age. 
From the age of six upward children were engaged in pushing or dragging 
carts of coal. Men, women, and children were employed together in 
precisely the same kind of labor and for the same number of hours ; con- 
sequently the committee reported that the physical and moral conditions 
existing in the- mines were indescribably bad. 



New factory 
legislation 
for children 
and women. 



Legislation 
for women 
and children 
in mines. 



438 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Unjust 
laws for the 
importation 
of wheat. 



Anti-corn 

law 

agitation. 



342. Agitation for the Repeal of the Corn Laws. — 

In order to help English farmers, there had existed for 
centuries laws which prohibited or limited the importa- 
tion of grains, particularly wheat. Since the aristocracy 
which controlled Parliament had been able to get control 
of most of the land during the period of the Industrial 
Revolution and of imperial expansion (§§ 185, 198), new 
corn laws were enacted after 1815. The law of 1815 
(§ 330) was too drastic even for the reactionary par- 
liaments following Waterloo, and the importation of 
wheat was permitted when the price was comparatively 
lower. Duties on imported wheat were levied, but the 

rate went down as 
the price of wheat 
went up. This 
kept the prices 
of wheat, flour, 
and bread high 
— a benefit to 
the farmers and 
landowners, but 
an injury to other 
workers, since 
Great Britain 
could not produce 
nearly as much 
wheat as the 
people required. 

The great man- 
ufacturers of Eng- 
land protested 
against so much 
legislation which 
interfered with their profits. Not only were they being 
forced to employ workers for shorter hours, as we have just 




John Bright 




SOCIAL REFORMS 439 

noted, but the high dutie3 on wheat made bread dear and 
compelled them to pay higher wages in order to keep their 
factory workers from starving. Consequently they began 
agitation for a repeal of the corn laws. In 1838, under 
the leadership of manufacturers, an Anti-Corn Law League 
was organized, which had the support of the " Manchester 
School" of economists and factory owners. The leaders 
of this movement were Sir Richard Cobden and John 
Bright. They advocated free trade, at least in grains, 
between England and other countries. They desired free 
trade for other articles also in order to extend the market 
for the products of English factories. 

343. Free Trade. — The free traders were able to gain Repeal of 
the help of the prime minister, Sir Robert Peel, himself * he c °™ ., 

, _ . . „ ' . laws (1846). 

a manufacturer and the son of a manufacturer. Peel at 
first proposed that the duties on imported grains should 
be reduced greatly; but, after the failure of the Irish 
potato crop in 1845, followed by the Irish famine (§ 364), 
he introduced, against the wishes of most of his party, 
a bill which repealed the corn laws entirely. This was 
carried through Parliament in 1846; and thereafter the 
larger part of the wheat supply of England was imported 
from abroad. 1 

The repeal of the corn laws was only the first of a long Extension 
series of acts abolishing duties on goods imported into ° f ^ e fr P e 
Great Britain. Since the population and trade of the cipie under 
British Isles are large compared with the area of the coun- J? el 1 a J nd 

° ^ Gladstone. 

try, their manufactures were more extensive than those of 

1 Although the Irish misfortunes led to the repeal of the corn laws, the 
abolition of duties upon wheat had a disastrous effect upon Irish agri- 
culture. Before this time the Irish tenants had raised fairly large 
quantities of wheat, oats, and barley, either for the payment of the rents 
which they owed to English landlords or for sale in the English market. 
Since they could not compete with the wheat grown on the American 
prairies, the acreage sown to grain in Ireland was greatly reduced after 
this time. 



440 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



any other people, particularly after the repeal of the corn 
laws. England found it wise to lower or abolish many 
taxes on imports, especially on all raw materials in- 
tended for manufacture. To replace the revenues lost 
by the abolition of these corn duties, the taxes upon in- 
comes and inheritances were increased. This legislation 
was advocated by a pupil of Peel, William Ewart Glad- 
stone, destined to become the 
greatest English statesman of 
the later nineteenth century. 
As Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer, Gladstone was "able 
to make himself popular with 
the common people by re- 
ducing for them the cost of 
their tea, their sugar, their 
newspapers (§ 339 ), and a 
hundred other articles. 

344. Summary. — Cabinet 
government had been estab- 
lished under Walpole (§ 42) 
partly because George I and 
George II, being Germans, were obliged to leave control 
of governmental affairs to their ministers. George III, 
from 1760 to the close of our Revolutionary War, tried 
to restore the personal rule of the king, by building up a 
party of the King's Friends. Liberal forces in England 
and the success of America in the war caused him to fail. 
Parliament, unreformed since the days of Elizabeth, 
was not changed at once owing to the prolonged and ex- 
pensive struggle with Napoleon. When peace came, 
prosperity did not follow, partly because the ultra-aris- 
tocratic majority of Parliament passed laws to give them- 
selves more profit and suppressed the agitation started 
by discontented and unemployed workers. 




William E. Gladstone 



SOCIAL REFORMS 441 

After 1820 reforms were inevitable. Among political Political 
reforms were those admitting Catholics and Dissenters /f 8 ° 2 r ™ 
to Parliament (Catholic Emancipation). The first great 1865). 
need was the reform of Parliament. In 1830 a Whig 
ministry presented the first reform bill. It failed to pass 
the House of Commons. After a new election, the Com- 
mons passed a new bill, but it was defeated in the House 
of Lords. A third bill had the same fate. Then Grey 
asked the King, William IV, to create new peers to 
" swamp " the House of Lords. When he consented, 
reluctantly, the Lords yielded and passed the bill. Many 
" rotten boroughs " were abolished, their seats being 
given to counties or new manufacturing towns, and 
the right to vote was extended. The revolutionary char- 
acter of the Reform Act of 1832 consisted not in its 
provisions but in the serious limitation of the Lords' 
power. 

In 1800 the people of England had legally more rights Social 
than those of any other European nation; actually, they Jf f f orm ^ ftfiS 
had little real freedom. After 1800 more religious liberty 
was granted to persons unassociated with the established 
churches, the press was relieved of burdensome taxes, 
and capital punishment was abolished gradually for all 
except a few serious crimes. In 1788 a law was passed 
to protect child chimney sweeps. In 1802 the first 
factory act (for child apprentices) was enacted. In 1819 
similar protection was extended to other children also. 
After 1832 reforms came rapidly. The hours for children 
were shortened, the age of child workers was raised, night 
work was forbidden, and women workers were allowed to 
work not more than ten hours and in the daytime. Girls 
and women could no longer work in mines. These 
changes raised the wage-cost to factory owners, who began 
agitation against the corn laws. In 1846 these were 
repealed, and within the next two decades, under the influ- 



442 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

ence of Peel and Gladstone, England abolished all protec- 
tive duties and adopted a free trade policy. 

General References 

Coman and Kendall, History of England, 390-405, 423-440. 

Cheyney, Short History of England, 576-656. 

Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814, 10-67. 

Macy, English Constitutional History, 370-438. 

Taswell-Langmead, Constitutional History of England, 540- 
601. 

Slater, The Making of Modern England, 1-181. 

Simeral, Reform Movements in behalf of Children in England 
in the Early Nineteenth Century. 

Cambridge Modern History, IX, 672-755, X, 573-684, XI, 
1-21, 309-365. 

Cross, History of England and Greater Britain, 738-982. 

Innes, History of England and British Empire, III, 273-505, 
IV, 1-313. 

Traill and Mann (eds.), Social England, V, Sec. II, VI, Sec. I. 

Topics 

Early Development of Cabinet Government : Montague, 
Elements of Constitutional History, 163-173 ; Macy, English Con- 
stitution, 352-369; Taswell-Langmead, English Constitutional 
History, 519-539. 

The Reform Act of 1832 : Slater, The Making of Modern 
England, 86-95 ;. Beard, Introduction to the English Historians, 
549-565; Smith, The United Kingdom, II, 341-357; Hunt 
and Poole (eds.), Political History of England, XI, 287-309; 
McCarthy, England in the Nineteenth Century, I, 173-238. 

Factory Reform : Slater, The Making of Modern England, 
54-56, 119-128; Bland, Brown, and Tawney, English Economic 
History, Select Documents, 502-516, 571-614; Traill and Mann 
(eds.), Social England, VI, 298-314; Simeral, Reform Movements 
in Behalf of Children in England in the Early Nineteenth Century, 
35-72. 

Free Trade : Slater, The Making of Modern England, 135- 
148 ; Hunt and Poole (eds.), Political History of England, XII, 48- 
71 ; McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, I, Chapters XIV, XV. 



ENGLAND BEFORE 1865 443 

Studies 

1. Personal rule of George III. Beard, Introduction to the 
English Historians, 492-504. 

2. William Pitt the Younger. Rosebery, Pitt, 261-287. 

3. The Peterloo massacre. Walpole, England from 1815, I, 
420-426. 

4. Parliament before reform. Beard, Introduction to the 
English Historians, 538-548. 

5. Reforms that followed the Reform Act of 1832. Innes, 
England and the British Empire, IV, 144-159. 

6. Palmerston. Geffcken, The British Empire, 185-233. 

7. The Lake poets. 

8. Tennyson and Browning. Globe edition. 

9. Relief for chimney sweeps. Simeral, Reform Movements 
in Behalf of Children in England in the Early Nineteenth Century, 
17-34. 

10. The first factory act. Bland, Brown, and Tawney, Eng- 
lish Economic History, Select Documents, 571-573. 

11. Condition of child workers in factories before 1833. Bland, 
Brown, and Tawney, English Economic History, Select Docu- 
ments, 502-505, 510-516. 

12. Workers in mines. Bland, Brown, and Tawney, English 
Economic History, Select Documents, 516-519. 

13. Legislation for factory workers (1844-1850). Simeral, 
Reform Movements in Behalf of Children in England in the Early 
Nineteenth Century, 61-70. 

Questions 

1. Explain the beginnings of cabinet government in England 
(§ 42). Describe George Ill's attempt to restore the personal 
government of the monarch, and state the part taken by the 
United States in his failure. Show the importance of the 
Napoleonic wars in the history of England. 

2. Explain as clearly as possible causes of discontent among 
the English people after 1815. To what extent did the govern- 

lent give relief for this discontent ? 

3. How was Parliament organized at the time of the American 
Revolution? To what extent was it a representative body? 
What reform measures were carried through Parliament during 
the eighties ? What was the nature of the Reform Bill pro- 
posed by the Whig leaders? How was the bill received by the 



444 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

House of Commons ; by the House of Lords ; by the English 
populace ? 

4. Describe the events connected with the enactment of the 
Reform Act of 1832. Show the significance of the concession 
made by William IV to create more peers. State the provisions 
of the Reform Act and discuss its importance. 

5. Name the political reforms which were made during the 
years following the great Reform Act. What further political 
reforms were demanded by the Chartists? What did Chartism 
accomplish? What was the significance in English history of 
the reign of Queen Victoria? What was the importance in 
European history of the ministries of Lord Palmerston? 

6. To what extent was there religious liberty in England 
in the seventeenth century ? Describe the changes by which tol- 
eration was gradually extended after 1689. Has England reli- 
gious liberty in the strictest legal sense at the present time? 
What were the steps by which freedom of the press was gradu- 
ally developed during the same period? Compare treatment of 
criminals in 1800 with methods used thirty years later, those 
prevailing in England to-day (§ 459), and in America at the 
present time. 

7. Describe without too much detail the conditions of 
workers a century and a half ago : in sweeping chimneys, in 
factories, in mines. Describe the successive laws made for 
the protection of child workers and woman employees in those 
occupations. Compare with laws on the same subject in this 
state to-day. 

8. Why was bread so expensive in England before the over- 
throw of Napoleon at Waterloo? after 1815? Why did the 
manufacturers of England make especially earnest protests 
against the corn laws passed by Parliament after 1815 ? What 
was the effect of the repeal of the corn laws in 1846? Why did 
England soon after 1846 adopt a policy of low protective tariff 
or free trade? 



CHAPTER XVII 



GREAT BRITAIN AFTER 1865 



Political Changes (1865-1905) 

345. Gladstone and Reform. — In spite of its name the 
Liberal party was quite well satisfied with the Reform 
Act of 1832, since through it the middle classes which 
the Liberals represented had gained control of the govern- 
ment. They did not heed the demands of the lower 
middle classes and the workingmen for a share in the 
government, because they did not wish to reduce their 
own power. This gave opportunity to the opposition, 
which continually proposed reform of Parliament. 1 In 
two respects the second Reform Act, passed in 1867, con- 
tinued the work of the Reform Act of 1832. First, it 
abolished the smaller boroughs, and, secondly, it gave 
the right to vote to many more people. As a matter of 
fact, it was very much more liberal to the workers in 
the towns than to those in the country. 2 

The Liberals were soon restored to power, however, 
because the Reform Act was a Liberal rather than a 
Conservative measure. Under the leadership of the new 

1 The new leader of the Conservatives was Benjamin Dis-ra'el-i, after- 
ward Lord Beaconsfield. Disraeli was of Jewish extraction and was con- 
sidered one of the most brilliant men of his time. He was an imperialist. 

2 In the country those could now vote who "owned" property worth 
£5 (formerly £10) or were tenants at will for property worth £12 a 
year (formerly £50). In the boroughs the right to vote was conferred 
upon all householders, and also upon all lodgers who paid a rental of 
£10 a year. 

445 



Parliamen- 
tary reform 
and the 
act of 1867. 



Reforms 
under the 
first Glad- 
stone 
ministry. 



446 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Provisions 
of Reform 
Act. 



prime minister, Gladstone, the new Parliament made a 
number of reforms, much as the first Parliament after the 
Reform Act of 1832 had done. The Irish church was 
disestablished in 1869 ; the Anglicans were allowed to keep 
their church buildings, but lost their endowments and 

lands. Part of this 
property was turned 
over to the Catholic 
church, and part of it 
was used for education 
and charity. Another 
reform consisted of the 
Irish Land Act of 1870 
(§ 367), followed by 
that of 1881, which 
aimed to help the 
farmers of Ireland in 
their difficulties with 
their landlords (§363). 
A law was passed for 
the establishment of 
better public schools 
(§ 496). Somewhat 
later, the government 
gave relief to the labor unions (§481). In 1872 a secret 
written ballot was introduced from Australia; before this 
time each voter had been required to give his vote orally 
and openly. 

In 1884, Gladstone, again in power, secured the enact- 
ment of the Reform Act of 1884, which extended the fran- 
chise to country workers on the same conditions as the 
act of 1867 had to town workers ; that is, it included 
lodgers as well as owners, if the lodgings were worth £10 
a year. This added some two million voters to the list 
and gave England practically manhood suffrage, except 




Queen Victoria 



POLITICAL CHANGES, 1865-1905 447 

for the poorer laboring classes in town and country, 1 
who were enfranchised later (§ 351), as were women. 

346. Reorganization of the Political Parties. — After Newalign- 
the Reform Act of 1832 (§ 334), the old Whig and Tory ^^ on 
parties had practically been continued under the new the Irish 
names, Liberal and Conservative. 2 In the middle of the b^S 
eighties, the Irish Home Rule question became acute, 
and there occurred a complete reorganization of British 
political parties. When Gladstone came into power for 
the third time, in 1886, the number of Liberal members 
in the House of Commons almost exactly equaled the 
number of Conservatives, and the new Irish Home Rule, 
or Irish Nationalist, party (§ 367) held the balance of 
power. Gladstone found it wise therefore to gain the 
support of the Irish Nationalists. With this in view, he 
proposed his first Home Rule bill, which provided for a 
separate Irish parliament and for the withdrawal of all 
Irish members from the British imperial Parliament. A 
great many Liberals opposed a plan which separated 
Ireland from the United Kingdom. Led by an able states- 
man, Joseph Chamberlain, they organized a new party, 
known as the Liberal Unionists, because they were Liberals 
and wanted to maintain the union of Great Britain and 
Ireland. Without the support of the Liberal Unionists, 
it was impossible for Gladstone to secure approval for his 
Irish Home Rule measure, even in the House of Commons. 

1 It must be noticed that the English suffrage system has been dif- 
ferent from the American plan. In America a man or woman has a vote 
as a person ; in Great Britain the vote belonged formerly, not to the 
person, but to the land or holding or lodging. If an Englishman owned 
lands or lodgings in more than one place, he had the right to vote at each. 

2 The repeal of the corn laws, as stated above (§ 343), split the Con- 
servative party. The Peel faction of the Conservatives, known as 
Peelites, merged with the Liberals ; together they kept control of the 
government from 1847 to 1874. Most of the time from 1874 until 1905, 
on the contrary, the government was controlled by the Conservative 
party. 



448 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Five po- 
litical fac- 
tions 

developed 
during the 
late nine- 
teenth 
century. 



Twentieth 

century 

parties. 



Retirement 
of Glad- 
stone on 
defeat of 
the second 
Home Rule 

bffl; 



The bill was defeated, therefore, and the Conservatives, sup- 
ported by the Liberal Unionists, formed a new ministry 
under Lord Salisbury. 

In the years following 1886 there were five distinct 
political groups or factions : (1) the old Liberals, still led 
by that " Grand Old Man " of English affairs, William 
E. Gladstone ; (2) the old Conservatives under the leader- 
ship, first of Salisbury and then of his nephew, Arthur 
James Balfour, and (3) the Liberal Unionists under 
Joseph Chamberlain. During the last generation there 
has been (4) an Irish National party, first organized by 
Charles Stewart Parnell (§ 366). Lastly, in the election of 
1892 four labor members were chosen to Parliament. The 
strength of this labor group continued to increase until, 
during the ten years before the Great War, (5) the Labor 
party usually mustered about forty votes in the House of 
Commons. 

During the last thirty years these five parties have 
formed just two groups. Because the Liberals committed 
themselves under Gladstone rather unequivocally to 
Irish Home Rule, they have had the help of the Irish 
Nationalists, and, because they favored social legislation, 
they have been supported by the Laborites. On the other 
hand the Liberal Unionists and the Conservatives worked 
together more and more, until, in the beginning of the 
twentieth century, they formed a single group known as 
Unionists. 

347. The Rule of the Conservatives (1895-1905). — 
In 1892 Mr. Gladstone was returned to power for the 
fourth and last time. He immediately began work upon 
his second Home Rule bill, which differed from the first 
measure because it provided that Ireland should send 
eighty members to the imperial Parliament. These 
Irish commoners could not vote on questions affecting 
England, Scotland, or Wales exclusively. The second 



POLITICAL CHANGES, 1865-1905 449 

Home Rule bill was carried in the House of Commons by 
a majority of forty- three, but it was defeated in the House 
of Lords by an overwhelming vote. There was talk of 
abolishing or reorganizing the House of Lords, but instead 
Gladstone, now more than eighty years of age, resigned, 
and the Conservatives under Salisbury again came into 
power and remained in control of the government until 
1905. 

The Conservative-Unionists formed a distinctly im- Conquest of 
perialist party; that is, they favored the development theS s udl JJ 
and extension of the British Empire ; whereas the Liberals Africa, 
had devoted their attention almost exclusively to home or 
domestic questions and had neglected imperial affairs. 
During this period occurred the war with the Boers x in 
South Africa. The Boer War (§ 375) showed that the 
English people needed military training for a conflict with 
even so small a nation as the Boers, because the conflict 
lasted more than two years. The period was distinguished 
also for the reconquest of the Egyptian Sudan under 
Kitch'e-ner of Khar-toum' (§ 377). 

With the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, after an ex- Theforma- 
traordinary reign of sixty-four years, Edward VII, who If^ante? 
understood the French people, cooperating with the Cordiale" 
French foreign minister Delcasse (§ 423), brought the * n ?* he 
two countries together into an " alliance " known as the Entente. 
" Entente 2 Cordiale." This understanding with France 
was followed in 1907, under a Liberal ministry, by a 
similar understanding with Russia (§ 425). Thus was 
organized the famous " Triple Entente " which opposed 
the growing German dominance in Europe and secured 
for the three countries in the Entente the lion's share of 
the colonial positions which had not been occupied in 
Africa and in southwestern Asia. 

1 (Burrs.) 2 (An-tanf.) 

■ 
2g 



450 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Recent Refoems and Conditions 



Proposal of 
protection 
by Cham- 
berlain. 



Over- 
whelming 
victory for 
the 
Liberals. 



Social 
reforms of 
the 
Liberals. 



348. Return of the Liberals to Power. — After the Boer 
War, Joseph Chamberlain proposed that England should 
abandon the policy of free trade which she had adopted 
under the leadership of Peel and young Gladstone (§ 343). 
He maintained that Great Britain should have higher 
protective duties, which could be lowered for the special 
benefit of the colonies, in order to encourage trade between 

the mother country 
and the British prov- 
inces. The sugges- 
tion of Chamberlain 
did not meet with 
the approval of a 
majority in either 
the United Kingdom 
or the colonies. The 
Balfour ministry 
did not call a new 
election, however, 
but resigned in De- 
cember, 1905. 

In the election the 
following month, 
Home Rule was not 
discussed very much, 
but a great deal was said on both sides regarding free trade 
and protection. The result was what in America we call 
a political " landslide" for the Liberals, who elected 397 
members against 157 for the Unionists and Conservatives 
together. 

The Liberals organized a ministry in which they in- 
cluded two or three exceedingly radical members. They 
started out on a program of reform. One of the measures 




Joseph Chamberlain 



RECENT ENGLISH REFORMS 451 

which they adopted, a measure which Joseph Chamber- 
lain had been advocating for years, provided an old-age 
pension not to exceed five shillings a week for dependent 
and worthy citizens more than seventy years of age. 
Other social reforms included workingmen's compensation 
(§ 486), insurance against sickness and other misfortunes 
(§ 487), and a minimum wage in " sweated " industries 
and mining. 

349. New Liberal Financial Measures. — In 1909 it Need of 
was necessary to gain additional revenues for two reasons : mone y for 

. . ,, a navy and 

first, to pay for the expensive social reforms of the Liberal expensive 
government, and secondly, to make increases in the navy, social 
because the nightmare of England in those days was the 
fear that the German navy (§ 299) would become nearly 
as large as that of Great Britain, a true menace because 
of numerous British colonies that needed protection. 

The budget for raising these new moneys was proposed New 
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George. 
This provided a supertax on large incomes ; that is, the rates posed by 
of the income tax were raised progressively with the in- ^ d 
crease of the income ; they were therefore much higher on 
great incomes than on small incomes. Rates were raised 
on the inheritance tax and also on all rented property, 
most of which was owned by the opponents of the Liberals, 
the landed aristocracy. There was levied also a new 
unearned increment tax, equal to one fifth of the unearned 
increase in the value of land. 

Naturally the wealthier people opposed the Lloyd George The two 
budget as class legislation. They tried to show that it J^b^t 
was unfair and unconstitutional. The finance bill was 
passed without difficulty in the House of Commons, but 
it was rejected in the House of Lords. This was contrary 
to precedent, for, from early times, it had been customary 
to allow the House of Commons almost complete control 
of the raising of revenue, and, for two centuries and a half, 



cialistic" 
taxes pro- 



452 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Popular 
victory of 
the 
Liberals. 



Provisions 
of the 
Parliament 
Act of 
1911. 



the Lords had not failed to approve any general finance 
bill. 1 

350. Reform of the House of Lords. — The Liberals 
therefore were able to treat this action of the Lords in 
1909 as extra-constitutional. They immediately called a 

new election to decide 
whether the people sup- 
ported the Lords or the 
Commons on this im- 
portant question. The 
result was a victory for 
the Liberals, although 
they had a smaller work- 
ing majority than they 
had secured in the re- 
markable election of 
1906. The House of 
Lords did not seem sat- 
isfied, however, and still 
opposed the Liberal gov- 
ernment's budget. The ministry, therefore, proposed a 
far more radical measure. 

Again an election was held, and again the position of the 
ministry was upheld. The House of Commons proceeded 
to pass not only the finance bill but a parliament act, 
which limited the powers of the House of Lords. The 
Lords agreed to both laws. Any finance bill that passed 
the House of Commons was to become law within thirty 
days whether the House of Lords approved or not. Any 
other bill whatsoever, passed by the House of Commons 
in three successive sessions, was to become a law within 
a minimum of two years from the time it was first passed, 

1 To be sure, in 1861 it had been necessary to present all financial 
measures in a single bill in order to keep the House of Peers from reject- 
ing provisions which they did not like. 




King George V 



RECENT ENGLISH REFORMS 453 

even if it did not secure the consent of the House of Lords. 
This Parliament Act of 1911 also provided that members of 
the House of Commons were thereafter to be elected for 
five years instead of seven. 

351. Parliament and the Ministers. — Under the new Later Lib- 
organization of Parliament it was possible for the Liberals f^ 1 ^ gls " 
to make radical changes in the finances of the imperial 
government and to carry out extensive reforms. 1 On 
account of the war some of these laws, such as the Irish 
Home Rule bill, were suspended until peace is made, but 
in 1917 several new reform measures were proposed. 
Among these was the new Parliament Act of 1918, which 
provided for an increase in the number of members to the 
House of Commons to 707, a rearrangement of parlia- 
mentary districts in England, and radical changes in the 
elective franchise. Under the act 44 boroughs lost repre- 
sentatives and 31 new towns gained representation. Plural 
voting was practically abandoned except for men with 
business property in two districts and for men holding 
degrees from certain universities. The most distinctive 
provision of the law arranged for the enfranchisement of 
five million women, including owners, occupiers, and wives 
of occupiers, at least thirty years of age. In recent cen- 
turies no constitutional change except the Reform Act 
of 1832 ranks with the " Representation of the People 
Act " of 1918, a law passed without popular pressure, but 
due to the Great War. 

With the outbreak of the war with Germany in 1914 
(<§ 435), there came an end to the agitation on the part 
of the Irish for Home Rule, on the part of the Ulstermen 
of northeastern Ireland against Home Rule (§ 368), and 

1 Several important measures, favored by the Liberals and absolutely 
opposed by the L T nionists and the House of Lords, were proposed in 1912 
with the intention that they should become laws under the three-year 
provision. Among these were an Irish Home Rule bill (§ 366) and a bill 
providing for the disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Wales. 



454 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




PRESENT BRITISH CONDITIONS 455 

on the part of the suffragettes for equal rights, including Political 

equal suffrage. All classes in the British Isles united for ^eniS™" 1 " 

the support of the country against the common enemy, changes in- 

In 1915 a number of Unionists, including Mr. Balfour and ^ dent to 

' ° m the war. 

a son of Joseph Chamberlain, were added to the cabinet. 
In other words a coalition cabinet and ministry were 
organized, and the government became more distinctly 
non-partisan. In December, 1916, this ministry was 
still further reorganized and a War Cabinet was created, 
consisting of the new Prime Minister, Lloyd George, and 
four associates. On this board were conferred almost 
dictatorial powers, in order that the war might be prose- 
cuted more successfully. 

352. Great Britain and the Great War. — When the Reasons for 
German armies invaded Belgium, Great Britain imme- En s land s 

° ; entrance 

diately entered the war. We must not suppose that she into the 
would have remained out of the conflict if the Germans had war * 
not violated Belgium's neutrality. As Lord Northcliffe 
says, " Whether Prussia had invaded Belgium or not, 
Britain would have been obliged to fight in self -defense" 

At the beginning, the English people did not realize the Creation of 
nature or magnitude of the conflict ; only gradually were an army ' 
they aroused. For the first two years, Great Britain 
depended entirely upon voluntary enlistment. Through 
posters and through the press, in public speeches and in 
private conversation, the youths of Britain were urged 
to do their full duty. In January, 1916, a law was passed 
providing for conscription of all single men in Great 
Britain between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, 
except those physically disabled, or engaged in absolutely 
necessary industries. Since this did not furnish the num- 
ber needed, a general conscription bill was passed, includ- 
ing all men between the ages of eighteen and forty-one. 1 

1 The number who have joined the British military and naval forces 
from England, Wales, and Scotland numbered in 1918 not less than five 



456 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



War 

supplies and 
finance. 



Extension 
of govern- 
mental 
authority. 



Importance 
of Eng- 
land's in- 
sular posi- 
tion. 



During the early years of the contest, the war problem 
of the British people was not simply to create an army, 
but to manufacture munitions in vast quantities. As has 
been the case in almost all European wars in which England 
has been engaged, she has borne a heavier financial burden 
than any of her allies or her colleagues. 1 Rates of taxes 
have been increased several times, many new taxes have 
been created, and immense war loans have been floated. 

The British people, noted for their love of freedom and 
their objection to governmental interference, have sub- 
mitted rather gracefully to constant regulations of their 
private affairs. Prices are fixed for almost all kinds of 
food and other necessaries of life, 2 and the list of articles 
which are forbidden, or the use of which is restricted, has 
been growing longer year by year. The war has brought 
about a greater social solidarity of all the people of Great 
Britain than ever existed before. 3 

353. Resources of Great Britain. — In war as in 
peace the most important fact in English and British 
history is the insular position of the country. This 
insular position 4 was an important influence in the 



millions. Beside these recruits, there were approximately 175,000 from 
Ireland, in the neighborhood of 400,000 from Canada, and a great many 
from South Africa, India, and Australia. 

1 By January 1, 1918, the total cost of the war to Great Britain had 
been more than twenty -five billion dollars, a sum about six times as 
great as it cost England to fight Napoleon and, in fact, a sum consider- 
ably greater than the total wealth of Great Britain a hundred years ago. 

2 As early as January 1, 1917, the Food Administration forbade the 
further use of fine white flour. In 1916 the government guaranteed to 
the growers of wheat a minimum price per bushel, not only for that year, 
but for the years to follow. 

3 The labor unions of Great Britain had for years before the war 
caused the government considerable uneasiness. Labor was among the 
most serious difficulties which the government was forced to face. Since 
the war started, British labor has supported the government quite loyally. 

4 E. E. C., § 465. 



PRESENT BRITISH CONDITIONS 457 

' 
Middle Ages and in early modern times, and it still domi- 
nates England's foreign policy and her relations with her 
colonies, as well as her commerce, agriculture, industries, 
and other political or business interests. Before the out- 
break of the Great War it was largely responsible for 
England's immense navy and very small army. 

England is small, and much of her country is hilly; Agricultural 
she cannot raise most of her supply of food. 1 The agri- devel °P- 

J ° ment. 

cultural products of the British Isles are, however, quite 
important. She raises only about a quarter of the wheat 
her people have needed, but she produces some barley, 
and a quantity of oats. Of course, most of her food 
supplies are imported ; for example, flour and meat from 
America or Australia, dairy products from Denmark and 
the Netherlands. 

England and southern Scotland are more fortunate than Mineral 
any other part of Europe in their deposits of two most resources - 
valuable minerals, coal (§ 476) and iron (§ 477) . 2 The 
coal supplies are located in south-central Scotland, 
around Newcastle, in north-central England, and in south- 
ern Wales. They are therefore close to the sea or they 
are in the heart of the great manufacturing districts. 
Until almost the last year of the nineteenth century Eng- 
land produced more coal than any other country in the 
world. England is fortunate also in having large sup- 
plies of iron. During the early decades of the nineteenth 
century England alone produced about half of the world's 

1 Although England is not noted to-day as she was in the medieval 
period for her great flocks of sheep, nevertheless, her hills furnish fine 
pasturage. She has more sheep in proportion to population than we 
have in the United States. The "roast beef of old England " is now to a 
great extent replaced by British mutton, but cattle raised in Ireland add 
to the meat supplies of the United Kingdom. In 1916, however, the 
British Isles imported from the outside world four hundred fifty million 
dollars' worth of meats. 

2 Consult map opposite page 234. 



458 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Iron and 
steel 

manufac- 
tures. 



supply of iron and steel. Since 1870 her annual output 
of iron, however, has remained practically stationary. 

354. British Industries and Activities. — Because Eng- 
land had iron for machines, and coal for power, and be- 
cause her inventors created or improved engines and 
machinery (§§ 187-189) long before they were used by 
any other peoples, England naturally took the lead in the 
manufacturing of many commodities. Before the Great 
War her iron and steel manufactures, including ship-build- 
ing, were her most important single industry. 

Even in the days when English wool was sent to Flanders 1 
the eastern counties of England were famous for their wool 




Docks at Yarmouth, with Herring Fleet 

trade. To-day, wool districts and the centers for the 
manufacture of worsted or of woollen goods are in north- 
central England. On the contrary, cotton manufacturing, 
which has depended to a great extent upon imports of 
raw cotton from America, has always been concentrated 
in and around Manchester. 

Among other occupations of England may be named 

1 E. E. C, § 563. 



PRESENT BRITISH CONDITIONS 459 

fishing, mining, which employs more than a million men, Other 
railroading, and shipping. Before the Great War, Great industnes - 
Britain owned nearly as many ships as all other nations. 
In all harbors of the world the English flag was found. The 
magnitude of the shipping industry and the fact that Great 
Britain's foreign commerce in those days was larger than 
that of anj^ other countr} r made London the commercial 
center of the world, that is, London ivas the clearing 
house for commercial transactions of practically all other 
countries. For example, if New York imported coffee 
from Brazil, and we had very little to sell to that country, 
we would not pay the Brazilian merchants directly, but 
we traded wheat and meat to England, and allowed her 
to pay what we owed Brazil. 

355. British Characteristics and Interests. — It would Character- 
be impossible to speak of the people of the British Isles ls * 1 g ? . . 
as forming a single nation. Although they are quite well races, 
united — except for nine tenths of the Irish — for pur- 
poses of government, they really form rather distinct 
groups of races. Yet there are, in a true sense, numerous 
characteristics common to all the people of the island of 
Great Britain. For example, interest in personal freedom 
is characteristic alike of Englishman, Welshman, Scots- 
man, and Irishman. In capacity for government, especially 
of inferior races, British statesmen excel all others. 
British determination, that is, unwillingness to start a 
thing which they do not finish, is certainly not less char- 
acteristic of the Scotch than of the English. 

In the last two centuries, Great Britain's most important Develop- 
interest has been sea power. The success of her navy, the ™ ent f nd 

r - J 7 importance 

development of her foreign trade, and the growth of her of sea power, 
colonial empire — all these have combined with her insular 
position to make her the first naval and maritime power 
in the world. For nearly two centuries before the war 
broke out, the term ''Britannia rules the wave " was no 



460 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



mere figure of speech ; it was literally true. Great Britain 
has used her control of the seas fairly and justly. 1 With 
the coming of the Great War, however, a new phase of 
world history, and particularly of British naval history, 
has begun. The English channel still exists, but the in- 
sular position of England is not so important as it was. 
The whole future of the British Isles depends not simply 
upon the outcome of the war, but upon many changes 
which may arise out of that conflict. 

Government of Great Britain 



Unwritten 
and written 
constitu- 
tions. 



Funda- 
mental 
laws of 
the British 
Constitu- 
tion. 



356. The British Constitution. — The constitution of 
the United Kingdom is really the constitution of England, 
which was developed over many centuries and extended 
to the whole kingdom. It is customary to speak of this 
English constitution as unwritten, in order to distinguish 
it from a constitution like that of the United States, 
which is based upon a single document known as a written 
constitution. In England there is nothing corresponding 
to our national Constitution which was adopted in 1787. 

It must not be thought, however, that England does not 
have a constitution. In fact the principles of the British 
constitution and the organization of the British govern- 
ment are practically as definite as those of the United 
States. Most of these principles are based upon histori- 
cal changes. It is still customary for historians to speak 
of Magna Carta, 1215, 2 and the Petition of Right, 1628 
(§ 28), and the Bill of Rights, 1689 (§ 42), as though these 
three great state papers were not only the basis of the 
British constitution but embodied all of its essential 
principles. We must not forget, however, that the 

1 Occasionally, as in the controversy before the War of 1812, she was 
accustomed to dominate smaller nations whose ideas in regard to rights 
on the seas and the rights of neutrals were different from her own. 

2 E. E. C, § 590. 



GOVERNMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN 



461 



development of English constitution during the last one 
hundred years has been remarkable. To be certain of this 
one need only notice the changes brought about by the 
growth of the cabinet system of government, and by the 
reorganization of Parliament through the Reform Act of 
1832 (§ 334) and the Parliament Act of 1918 (§ 351). 

357. Parliament — The House of Lords. — The 
governing body of the United Kingdom is an imperial 
Parliament made up of three branches ; first, the crown, 
including the ministry; secondly, the House of Lords; 
and thirdly, the House of Commons. 

The House of Lords is at present made up of nearly 
600 peers. 1 Of these, only twenty-six are spiritual, arch- 
bishops or bishops. The House of Lords, once the most 
powerful body in the government, in the days of the later 
Angevin and Lancastrian rulers, 2 has now been shorn even 
of its equal position with the House of Commons. It still 
possesses great dignity but very little power. It is, how- 
ever, the highest court of appeal for certain cases. 

358. Parliament — The House of Commons. — The 
House of Commons consists of more than 700 members, 
chosen, at intervals not exceeding five years, by the voters 
of Great Britain. The redistribution of seats in 1832, 
1867, 1885, and 1918 removed the most glaring dis- 
crepancies between the less populated and the larger dis- 
tricts. 

The people of the British Isles believe that the Commons 
and it alone represents the nation. Its rule, however, is 



Present 
organiza- 
tion of 
Parliament. 



Composi- 
tion and 
powers of 
the House 
of Lords. 



Distribu- 
tion of 
members in 
the House 
of 
Commons. 



1 Sixteen peers are Scotch, elected by all the peers of Scotland, and 
twenty-eight are Irish, elected for life by Irish peers. The rest are 
English, and we should notice that all English peers are, by virtue of their 
position, members of the House of Lords. It is interesting to note that 
the majority of the English peers do not belong to old families, since the 
title of the majority of English peers to-day has been created within the 
last half century. 

2 E. E. C, §592. 



462 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



How the 
Commons 
rules the 
nation. 



Formation 
of a cabinet. 



How the 
British 
cabinet and 
Commons 
work, 
together 
and repre- 
sent the 
people. 



indirect rather than direct, because the real governing 
body is not the House of Commons at all but a ministry 
made up from members of the House of Commons and the 
House of Lords. Strangely enough, the ministry is legally 
a committee of advisers of the king; therefore, the king 
and his ministers really form a third house of Parliament. 

359. Ministerial Government. — Since England is 
really ruled by the ministers, 1 and since the ministers 
must represent the House of Commons, it is necessary to 
organize a new ministry whenever there is a change in 
party control in the lower house of Parliament. In that 
case the monarch requests the leader of the new party 
in power to form a ministry. The leader occupies the 
position of prime minister or premier. He gathers about 
himself ministers whose views agree with his and organizes 
a new cabinet and government. 

After a time, if he does not enjoy the confidence of the 
majority of members in the House of Commons, he can do 
one of two things. (1) He may immediately resign. 
In that case, the monarch calls the leader of the opposing 
party to form a ministry, or, if the retiring premier was 
forced to resign for personal reasons, the monarch asks the 
next greatest leader of the same party to form a ministry. 
(2) If a prime minister does not wish to resign, however, 
he calls a new election. If the election gives his party a 
majority in the new House of Commons, it shows that the 
people uphold the policy of his ministry, and he remains 
in office. If his opponents win, the cabinet and ministry 

1 It is necessary for us to distinguish four persons or bodies connected 
with the English executive. (1) When a king dies, he is succeeded by his 
oldest son. (2) The Privy Council is a name used for centuries to repre- 
sent a group of advisers gathered together by the monarch to help him ad- 
minister the affairs of the government. (3) The ministry is a group of 50 
or 60 prominent administrative officials associated with the prime min- 
ister. (4) The Cabinet is a body not known to, or organized by, the 
law, which is made up of eleven or more ministers, the number varying 
with the preference of the prime minister and the need of the times. 



GOVERNMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN 463 

resign at once or as soon as Parliament meets and the 
Commons shows that it wants some one else as prime 
minister. In this way, the English government responds 
rather quickly to the sentiment of the nation. For the 
proper working of the scheme, it is necessary that there 
should either be only two parties, or that the parties 
work in two groups. Otherwise, ministers may be driven 
from power when it is impossible to organize a new 
ministry and government. 

360. Local Government. — In most of the past cen- General and 
turies, the local government of England has been dis- admmistra- 
tinguished in two ways from those of other countries, counties. 
First, it has been more decentralized, that is, less under 
the central government, than local government in most 
countries of the Continent. Secondly, there has been a 
greater development of self-government in England than 
has been found elsewhere in Europe. 1 The local govern- 
ment of England to-day is fairly well organized. The 
country is divided into sixty-two administrative counties, 
most of which correspond closely to the historical counties. 
As a rule, these counties do not include the larger cities. 2 
They are governed by county councils made up of council- 
men chosen for three-year terms by the voters and alder- 
men chosen for six years by the councilors. Although a 

1 In Anglo-Saxon times (E. E. C, § 470) there were shires, hundreds, 
and townships, each of which had local self-government and usually an 
assembly of the people or their representatives. As the Norman kings 
began to organize a new national government in England, the local dis- 
tricts lost their self-governing assemblies and were brought more directly 
under the king. The county succeeded the shire. Over it were a sheriff 
and justices of the peace, appointed from the lesser nobles. The parish 
still had, however, an occasional meeting of the rate-payers, who elected 
officials and decided what taxes should be levied. The English borough 
was governed in many different ways, frequently under separate royal 
charters, until in 1835 the first general municipal act was passed (§ 335). 
The local government outside of the borough was, however, much of a 
hodgepodge until the close of the nineteenth century. 

2 On the government of English cities consult sections 335 and 462. 



464 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Govern- 
ment of 
local sub- 
divisions. 



Triple na- 
ture of the 
Irish ques- 
tion. 



large body, usually numbering about seventy-five members, 
these county councils have somewhat the same powers as 
'do the county boards of the American county. 1 

The administrative counties are subdivided into dis- 
tricts of different sizes for different purposes. The 
smallest and therefore most numerous of these districts 
is still known as the parish. It is governed by a meeting 
of all voters (including women and lodgers). It decides 
the amount of local taxes, looks after the administration 
of the poor law, and takes care of some other matters of 
purely local interest. 

The Irish Question 

361. Ireland and the Irish Question. — The Irish 
question grows largely either out of the location of the 
island, or out of the fact that Ireland is a conquered 
country dominated by the English people, or out of the 
diverse elements of population. (1) Separated as she is, not 
only from the continent of Europe but also from the island 
of Great Britain, she has not shared fully in the progress 
which in modern times has come to the rest of Europe. 2 
(2) Inhabited almost entirely by a people different in 
race from those of England, she has constantly opposed 
the rule of the English, and in turn the English rule has 
been severe and unkind. (3) Besides the Irish race there 
are in the island two other groups of people, the Scotch- 
Irish (or English-Irish) of the northeastern provinces, in 
Ulster, who are the descendants of settlers sent to Ireland 
two or three hundred years ago, and the English, who own 
most of the land and are therefore primarily a landlord class. 

1 See Ashley, The New Civics, §§ 186, 189. 

2 Ireland contains some rolling hills and a large amount of low, swampy- 
country, but most of the land of the island is quite fertile and well adapted 
to agriculture. It is especially valuable, however, for grazing. As Ire r 
land is in the direct path of the Gulf Stream, she has an unusually heavy 
rainfall. 



THE IRISH QUESTION 



465 



362. Real Conquest of Ireland (1485-1660). — Before 
the time of Henry VII, 1 Ireland was really ruled by the 
Irish chiefs, as the English had control of only a small 
area around Dublin which was known as the Pale. 2 
Henry VII brought the 
island under English rule to 
a greater extent than it had 
ever been before. In the 
reign of Elizabeth, insurrec- 
tions among the people gave 
the English government a 
chance to take lands, espe- 
cially in Ulster, on which 
Scotch and English settlers, 
usually Presbyterians, were 
established by Elizabeth 
and her successor, James I. 
Under Charles I, Wentworth, 
Earl of Strafford, ruled Ire- 
land very severely. As soon 
as he returned to England, a terrible insurrection broke 
out, and women and children were slaughtered by thou- 
sands. The island was in great disorder ; it was difficult 
to grow crops, and consequently famines were numerous. 

After the death of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell invaded the 
island and put down the insurrection (§ 32). In one town 
his troops killed more than a thousand soldiers, peasants, 
and others who had taken refuge in a church. Cromwell 
took the lands of the Irish chiefs, except in the western 
provinces, and the Irish lords were compelled to migrate 
to the county of Connaught, beyond the River Shannon, 
and no Irishman was allowed to own any land outside 
of this province. 3 

i E. E. C, § 649. 2 E. E. C, § 594. 

3 The lands from which the Irish lords were dispossessed were dis- 
2h 




IRELAND 

SCALE OF MILES 

20 40 60 80 100 



Conquests 
under the 
Tudors and 
early 
Stuarts. 



Conquest 

by 

Cromwell. 



466 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Unjust 
treatment 
of Irish 
Catholics. 



Interference 
with Irish 
occupations. 



363. English Legislation and the Irish (1660-1750). — 

The unjust and oppressive nature of the English rule can 
be understood most clearly by a study of the century 
following the Restoration (1660 a.d.). The Irish had 
not become Protestants at the time of the Reformation, 
as was the case with most other races of Northern Europe, 
but they were compelled to support an established church, 
which was similar to the Anglican church (§ 21). The 
peasants were forced to pay tithes to the support of this 
foreign church. 

The Irish were subjected not only to religious oppres- 
sion but to economic oppression as well. Soon after the 

Restoration, the Irish 
were forbidden to trade 
with the American col- 
onies. About the same 
time, the right to export 
cattle to England was 
taken from them. These 
two prohibitions inter- 
fered with cattle-raising, 
possibly the most profit- 
able single industry of 
the island, and with 
many Irish manufac- 
tures. Later, when the 
Irish turned from cattle- 
raising to sheep-raising, 
the English government forbade their sending out of the 
country either raw wool or cloth, or other articles manu- 




Irish Cottages 



tributed among English noblemen, merchants, adventurers, and soldiers. 
The only Irish left in the three other provinces were day laborers or cot- 
ters, who cultivated the ground or watched the herds and flocks of the 
new landlords. It is needless to say that after Cromwell's time there was 
more peace for Ireland, although there was less prosperity for the Irish. 



THE IRISH QUESTION 467 

factured from wool. These laws forced the Irish to de- 
pend more and more exclusively upon agriculture, and the 
Irish were compelled to get land or starve. Consequently, 
there was severe competition among tenants, and they 
frequently offered to pay very exorbitant rent. In only 
one way were they able to secure sufficient money to 
pay these high rents and get sufficient food to live ; they 
grew potatoes. 1 

The Irish people, always accustomed to disorder, did violence 
not accept English oppression gracefully. About the f- nd i n I- 
middle of the eighteenth century a large number of tur- practiced by 
bulent Irishmen dressed in white garments and paid the Insh - 
nightly visits to hated landlords or their bailiffs. These 
" white boys " and their successors, the " peep o' day 
boys," abused many unfortunate Englishmen and de- 
stroyed a great deal of property. Naturally Ireland, op- 
pressed and in disorder, did not prosper. 

364. Union and O'Connell. Famine. — In 1800 Ire- Union and 
land 2 was united with Great Britain under the title of the attem P te d 

repeal. 

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Thence- 
forth Ireland was to be ruled absolutely by Parliament, to 
which of course she sent members. 3 An eloquent orator, 
Daniel O'Connell, who had already aroused the Irish people 
against the injustice of English rule, in 1825 was elected 
to Parliament by the county Clare. Of course a Catholic 
could not then be accepted as a member, but O'Connell's 
eloquence and the constantly increasing demand among 
the Irish for the repeal of the Act of Union led the English 

1 Those Scotch-Irish and other peoples that were not willing to live 
on an exclusive potato diet were forced to leave, usually for America, 
since they could not get land. 

2 The Irish parliament was composed chiefly of English landlords, 
and it had misruled the island. 

3 At the time of the Union the Irish were allowed to select thirty-two 
Protestant members of the House of Lords and one hundred Protestant 
members of the House of Commons. 



468 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The terrible 
famines of 
1845-1848. 



Emigra- 
tion to 
America. 



The Fenian 
movement 
and the 
agrarian 
problem. 

Demands 
of the Irish 
farmers. 



government in 1829 to pass a law providing for Cath- 
olic Emancipation (§ 338) . Thereafter, Irish Catholics 
were allowed to hold seats in Parliament. 

In 1845 there were about eight and a half million people 
in Ireland. In a single week a hot wind practically de- 
stroyed their only crop, that of potatoes. During the 
next five years the Irish had only one really satisfactory 
potato crop. Not only were the people without food, 
but, since they could not pay their rents, they were fre- 
quently thrust out into the highways and byways by the 
landlords' bailiffs. From one end of Ireland to the other, 
there was famine, disease, and death. The English people 
took up subscriptions for the Irish, but the English land- 
lords during this same period accepted for rent an amount 
of grain which would have kept from starvation most of 
the unfortunate peasants. 

Since conditions in Ireland were so bad, hundreds of 
thousands, especially young people, left Ireland every year 
for America. In six years (1844-1850) the population of 
Ireland was reduced by more than a million through mi- 
gration and by nearly a million more through death from 
starvation and disease. 

365. The Irish Land Problem and Laws. — The agra- 
rian question has been the great problem of Ireland, largely 
because the people have had no industries and no natural 
resources other than land from which they take a living. 1 
Among the Irish there was a demand for the three F's : 
(1) Free tenure, i.e. the right of a tenant to hold his land 
for a definite period of time ; (2) Free land, i.e. sl rent 



' 1 In ancient times the Irish land was owned by the clans or tribes. In 
later centuries, in spite of English rule, the Irish always felt that they 
had a part ownership in the land. ■ Consequently, they protested with 
great vigor against the high rents charged by the landlords for the use 
of lands of which the tenant was, in his opinion, part owner. They 
objected also because the landlords did not give leases in most cases, but 
dismissed a tenant at will at any time of the year. 



THE IRISH QUESTION 469 

which was just and could be paid easily out of the earnings 
of the farm ; (3) Free sale, i.e. the privilege of selling to a 
new tenant for a bonus the rights in a farm or a tenancy, 
together with improvements. 

The first land law of 1870 provided for fair rents, and Land laws 
forced the landlord to pay for improvements made by the °? J?^ and 
tenant, but it did not give the tenants sufficient relief. 
In 1881 Gladstone proposed his second Irish Land Act. In 
this the three F's were granted and a land court was created 
which upon request decided what should be a fair rent 
for a period of fifteen years. These acts gave the Irish 
tenants a little better treatment, but they did not satisfy 
either party. The Irish believed that the land question 
could not be settled until they owned their land and 
ruled Ireland. 

In 1891 and again in 1903 the Conservative party passed Land pur- 
acts that helped the peasants buy their land. 1 Nearly chase acts - 
one half of the tenants in Ireland have arranged to buy 
farms of their own under these laws. Whether they will 
ever complete the purchase and really own their lands 
remains to be seen. 

366. Irish Home Rule. — After Gladstone's land law of Home Rule 
1870, the Irish became convinced that the only practical before 191 °- 
settlement of their troubles was through the reestablish- 
ment of the Irish parliament and other measures for Home 
Rule. By 1886, under the leadership of a Protestant 
Englishman, who was an Irish landlord, Charles Stewart 
Parnell, there was formed an Irish National Party, which 
united most of the Irish members in Parliament on a pro- 

1 The law of 1891 provided that if the tenant wanted to purchase his 
land, the government would buy the land from the landlord and resell it 
to the tenant on installments of forty-nine small annual payments. Later 
acts made it still easier for the Irish to purchase their own land. By the . 
law of 1903 a hundred million pounds, nearly $500,000,000, was set aside 
for the purchase by the government of lands to be resold to the Irish 
farmers. 



470 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The third 
Home Rule 
bill. 



gram of Home Rule for Ireland (§§ 348, 353). The 
Conservatives, who were in power for ten years (1895- 
1905), tried to kill Home Rule by kindness, for acts were 
passed which gave the Irish some local self-government, 
and Irish agriculture was aided by the establishment of 
a council of agriculture and by the land purchase acts 
mentioned above. 

One of the first measures introduced after the House 
of Lords had been deprived of its right to veto laws 

(§ 352) was the third Home 
Rule bill. It was proposed in 
1912. Since the Ulstermen 
of the northeastern counties 
were opposed to an Irish Home 
Rule bill by which they would 
be governed by the rest of the 
island, they began to organize 
a militia and to drill. In 
1914 the Home Rule bill was 
amended so that for six years 
these Ulstermen should be 
under British rule rather than 
under the new Irish govern- 
ment. The Irish Nationalists 
objected to this arrangement, 
and in turn began to organize 
an army. In the summer of 1914 trouble occurred between 
the British troops and the Irish Nationalist forces. Then 
came the Great War, and all parties agreed to forget their 
differences. In September, 1914, the Irish Home Rule 
act was passed, but its operation was suspended during 
the period of the war. 

During the year 1917 the British premier called a con- 
ference or constitutional convention of about 100 members 
to represent all Irish areas and classes, including even 




Parnell 



THE IRISH QUESTION 471 

the rebellious Sinn Feiners. 1 This convention discussed Constitu- 
several plans for Irish government and favored a " federal " ^ff cor l~ 
scheme of organization by which the separate counties irishmen, 
would have considerable self-government under the Irish 
national government, just as our states are allowed to 
control very many powers of government. 

367. Summary. — In 1867 a parliamentary reform bill Political 
extended the franchise greatly, especially to householders iges^ig'os 
and lodgers in boroughs, and in 1884 similar privileges 
were extended to country workers. During the same 
period the Irish church was disestablished and Irish land 
acts were passed. Gladstone's third ministry was sup- 
ported by the Irish National Party; this union of the 
Liberals and the Irish Nationalists still continues. In 
1901 Queen Victoria died, before the close of the Boer 
War. She was succeeded by her son, Edward VII, who 
established friendlier relations with France. The pro- 
posal of the Conservatives to abandon free trade for 
protection brought the Liberals into power again. 

The reform government of the Liberals and their allies Present 
proceeded to introduce a large number of laws, such as refo ^. s and 

^ . ° ; conditions. 

old-age pensions and unemployment insurance. Since it 
needed larger revenues, it proposed new and heavier taxes 
upon large incomes, and other taxes upon land. When the 
Lords opposed these measures, a Parliament Act was 
passed in 1911, which practically limited or took away 
from the House of Lords the right to veto laws desired by 
the Commons. Just before the Great War, England was 
having serious troubles with the suffragettes, with rioters 
in Ireland, and with some labor groups at home. After 
the war broke out, her people united, agitation for special 

1 In 1916 an insurrection occurred in Ireland somewhat similar to the 
Fenian movement a half century earlier which caused Gladstone to 
secure relief for the Irish. This was managed by the Sinn Feiners, 
an organization which believed in "Ireland for the Irish." After some 
bloodshed this was suppressed. 



472 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Govern- 
ment of 
Great 
Britain. 



The Irish 
question. 



reforms ceased, and a large army, the largest in the world at 
that time, outside of Germany and Russia, was organized 
to aid her fine navy. Great Britain owes much to her natu- 
ral resources, especially coal and iron, to the other won- 
derful expansion of her industries, to her navy and colonial 
empire, and to the wonderful spirit of her people. 

The constitution of Great Britain is called unwritten. 
It provides for the organization, but does not limit the 
power, of the Parliament. The Parliament is made up of 
the three branches, the crown including the ministry, the 
House of Lords or peers, and the House of Commons, 
elected by popular vote, that is, by practically all men over 
twenty-one and by most of the women over thirty. The 
country rules itself through the House of Commons, be- 
cause the ministry, really a committee of Parliament, 
must do as the House of Commons wants. This system is 
known as cabinet, or ministerial, or " responsible " govern- 
ment. 

Ireland is separated from the main island of Great 
Britain and is inhabited chiefly by a different race. She 
has no valuable mineral resources and is therefore pre- 
eminently an agricultural country. Her conquest was be- 
gun centuries ago, and continued under Tudor monarchs, 
Cromwell, and later kings. Severe laws were enacted 
against the Irish, who organized and stirred up trouble. 
After 1845, there were famines which caused great loss 
of life and led to emigration to America. Under Glad- 
stone, a number of laws were passed to relieve the Irish 
tenants from oppression by the absentee landlords. 
Gladstone also favored Irish Home rule, but not until 
the House of Lords was deprived of its veto power was a 
Home Rule measure finally passed, just as the Great War 
broke out. 



GREAT BRITAIN SINCE 1865 473 



General References 

Cheyney, Short History of England, 656-731. 

Hazen, Modern European History, 453-486. 

Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern Europe, II, 
190-200, 217-232. 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 
277-330. 

Cambridge Modern History, XII, 23-90. 

Cross, History of England and Greater Britain, 983-1089. 

Innes, A History of England and the British Empire, IV, 297— 
562. 

Slater, The Making of Modern England, 182-297. 

Traill and Mann (eds.), Social England, VI. 

Ogg, The Governments of Europe, 1-191. 

Moran, Theory and Practice of the English Government. 

Holland, May's Constitutional History of England, III. 

Alden, Democratic England. 

Ashley (ed.), British Industries. 

Hayes (ed.), British Social Politics. 

Dubois, Contemporary Ireland. 

Mackinder, Britain and the British Seas. 

Topics 

Reform of the House of Lords : Cross, History of Eng- 
land, 1077-1080; Ogg, The Governments of Europe, 106-116; 
Holland, May's Constitutional History of England, III, 343- 
384. 

Poverty and Unemployment in England : Ogg, Social 
Progress in Contemporary Europe, 227—238 ; Contemporary Re- 
view, 93 (1908), 147-157, 94 (1908), 563-569; Annals of the 
American Academy, 33 (1908), 420-439; Review of Reviews, 
39 (1909), 71-76; Alden, Democratic England, 87-121. 

Social Legislation in Recent Years : Cheyney, Short 
History of England, 682-689; Hayes, Political and Social History 
of Modern Europe, II, 307-319 ; # Hayes fed.), British Social 
Politics, 1-19; Alden, Democratic' England. 1-27, 87-191. 

Economic Geography of Great Britain: Smith, Com- 
merce and Industry, 355-362 ; Mackinder, Britain and the British 
Seas, 315-329 ; Lyde, The Continent of Europe, 221-249. 

Ireland and Her Land Problems : Slater, Making of Mod- 
ern England, 228-238; Holland, May's Constitutional History 



474 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

of England, III, 154-160, 176-179, 191-194; Encyclopedia 
Britannica, XIV, 780-787 ; Dubois, Contemporary Ireland, 218- 
295. 

Home Rule for Ireland : Dubois, Contemporary Ireland, 
79-86, 514-522 ; Cambridge Modern History, XII, 73-76, 84-88 ; 
Holland, May's Constitutional History of England, III, 149-154, 
162-176, 183-190. 

Studies 

1. Gladstone's reforms (1869-1871). Innes, England and 
the British Empire, IV, 348-361. 

2. British political parties. Hayes, Political and Social 
History of England, II, 297-307 ; Ogg, Governments of Europe, 
162-166. 

3. The government and labor. Tickner, Social and Indus- 
trial History of England, 595-608. 

4. State insurance against sickness. Alden, Democratic Eng- 
land, 122-143. 

5. The history of the Lloyd George budget. Hayes, British 
Social Politics, 347-361. 

6. The British cotton industry. Ashley (ed.), British Indus- 
tries, 79-87. 

7. The British cabinet. Courtenay, The Working Consti- 
tution of the United Kingdom, 84-92. 

8. Rural local government in England to-day. Ogg, 
Governments of Europe, 183-186. 

Questions 

1. Give the main provisions of the Reform Acts of 1867 
and 1884, comparing with those of 1832 and 1918. What other 
reforms were made about 1870? 

2. Name the five party groups that have been prominent 
in English politics during the last third of a century. Why are 
they organized into two large groups (§ 361)? Give names of 
each group and of its different factions. 

3. Which party was imperialistic? What was Joseph 
Chamberlain's plan of protection? Why were the Liberals 
returned to power in 1905? Name and explain some of their 
measures of social reform. Explain their financial reform laws. 

4. Give the history of the struggle over the House of Lords 
and explain the Parliament Act of 1911. Show its importance 



GREAT BRITAIN SINCE 1865 475 

in English history. What reform measures were passed after 
the Lords had been deprived of their right to interfere with 
lawmaking? Give provisions of the "Representation of the 
People " Act of 1918. 

5. How was the English government reorganized after the 
war started? What experience did the English people have 
with voluntary enlistment? Why was it necessary to have a 
selective draft or conscription? Compare food regulations of 
Great Britain with those in the United States. 

6. Explain the location and importance of the mineral de- 
posits of Great Britain. Show the reasons for development of 
certain industries in certain parts of the country. How have 
those industries affected English foreign commerce? To what 
extent have they been responsible for creating her social and 
labor problems ? 

7. Name at least three characteristics which we consider 
distinctively British. Explain the importance of each in British 
and world history. Show the significance of sea power to the 
British Isles. Explain its rise, and show how changes are being 
brought about by the Great War. 

8. Compare the British constitution with our own. Ex- 
plain the organization of the House of Lords. Describe the 
present organization and powers of the House of Commons and 
explain why and how it controls the British minister. Explain 
what you mean by cabinet, or "responsible," government. 
Describe English government at the present time. 

9. Give three good reasons why Great Britain has had, and 
still has, an Irish question. Why have the Irish depended much 
upon a diet of potatoes? Show what the agrarian or land 
problem was. Give the provisions of the Irish land laws, and 
show how they helped to solve the problem. 

10. Why did the Irish want Home Rule? What was the na- 
ture of the Home Rule bills proposed by Gladstone, and why were 
they defeated? Trace the history of Irish Home Rule in recent 
years. Give some idea of the present Irish Home Rule problem. 



476 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



General Europe 


France 


Germany and Austria 


Great Britain 
England 










1850 


Olmiitz 










1852 


Second Empire 










1854 


Crimean War 














1856 


Congress of Paris 






1856 


Decline of 






1859 


Austro-Sardinian 
War 








Austria 




Last years of 
Palmerston's 
rule 






1863 


French army in 
Mexico 


1863 
1864 


Schleswig-Hol- 

stein question 
Danish War 






1866 


Austro-Prussian 






1866 


Sadowa (Battle) 








War 






1867 
1867 


Austria-Hun- 
gary reorgan- 
ized 

North German 


1867 
1869 


Parliamentary 
reform 

Irish dis- 
establishment 


1870 


Franco-German 








Confederation 


1870 


Reform acta 




War 


1871 
1875 


Treaty of 

Frankfort 
Constitution 


1871 
1874 


German Empire 
Kulturkampf 










1875 


Threats of war 


between France and 












Germany 










1878 


Treaty of Berlin 














1879 


Alliance be- 


1879 


Republic really 


1879 


Anti-Socialist 








tween 




established 




laws 


1881 


Irish land laws 




Germany and 








State socialism 








Austria 














1882 


Triple Alliance 










1886 


Gladstone's 


1888 
1891 


Franco-Russian 
friendship 

Dual Alliance 


1889 
1895 


Boulanger 
failure 

Dreyfus 
trial 


1888 
1890 

1898 


Accession of 
William II 

Retirement of 
Bismarck 

New Naval 
program 


1894 


first Home 
Rule bill 

Conservatives 
in power 
until 1905 






1901 


Law of as- 






1901 


Death of 


1904 


Entente Cordiale 




sociations 








Victoria 


1904 


Russo-Japanese 
War 












Edward III 






1905 


Repeal of 


Agrarian controversy 


1905 


Defeat of 


1906 


Algeciras con- 




Concordat 








protection 




ference 




(Separation of 






1906 


Beginning 


1907 


Triple Entente 




Church and 








of social 








State) 


1908 


Bosnian affair 


1909 


reforms 
Lloyd George 

budget 
George V 


1911 


Agadir affair 


1911 


Preparation 
for possible 


1911 


Increases in 
army 


1911 


Parliamentary 
Act 


1912- 


13 Balkan wars 




war 










1914 


Outbreak of 






1914 


Ultimatum to 








Great War 








Serbia 


1915 


Coalition 


[See table, pages 608-91 












cabinet 














1916 


Conscription 














1918 


Parliamentary 
reform 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



477 



1849-1918 



Southern Europe 



Eastern Europe 



Rest of World 



1S59 "War between Sardinia 

and Austria 
1860 Annexation of states to 

Italy 



1866 Annexation of Venetia 
to Italy 

1869 Revolution in Spain 



1871 Completion of Italian 
unity 



1882 Italy in Triple Alliance 
Crispi in Italy 



1855 Sebastopol (siege) 



1861 Emancipation of Rus- 
sian serfs 
1863 Polish, insurrection 



Treaty between Italy 
and France 



1910 Republic of Portugal 

1911 Italian-Turkish War 



1876 Bulgarian massacres 
Revolution in Turkev 

1877 Russo-Turkish War 

1878 Treaties 



1886 Bulgarian troubles 



1895 Armenian massacres 
1897 Greek War 



1905 Norway independent 

1905 Revolution in Russia 

1906 First Duma 

1908 Young Turk revolt 

Jugo-Slav nationalist 
movement 



1912 Balkan alliance 

1913 Balkan treaties 



1917 Revolution in Russia 



1861 



1865 



1868 
1869 



Beginning of Civil War 
in United States 

End of American Civil 
War 

End of feudalism (Japan) 
Opening of Suez Canal 



1870 Opening up of Africa 



1877 End of reconstruction 

period (U.S.) 

Stanley in Africa 



1894 Chino-Japanese War 



1898 Spheres of influence i 

China 
1S98 Spanish-American War 
1900 Boxer revolt 
1902 Boer War ends 

1904 Moroccan-Egyptian 

understanding 
1904-5 Russo-Japanese War 

1905 Bagdad railway 

prominent 
1907 Partition of Persia 



1911 Republic of China 



1915 Japanese demands on 
China 




© Underwood 
David Lloyd George 




Sir Douglas Haig 




Marshal Foch 





George Clemenceau 



Marshal Joffre 



Some War Leaders 
478 



PART IV 
EXPANSION AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT 



479 



480 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




CHAPTER XVIII 

THE BRITISH EMPIRE 

General — American Possessions 

368. The British as Empire Builders. — "Doubtless Size and im- 
the most significant and momentous fact of modern his- E ^?? 06 of 
tory is the wide diffusion of the English race, the sweep Empire. 
of its commerce, the dominance of its institutions, its 
imperial control of the destinies of half the globe." x 
Although the English entered the field of colonial ex- 
pansion later than most other countries of western Europe, 
even before the nineteenth century they had outstripped 
all rivals. In the beginning of the twentieth century, 
practically one fourth of the land area of the globe 
was comprised within the British Empire, and approxi- 
mately one fourth of all people lived under its sway. 

Its importance depends less upon its size than upon the Location of 
location of its parts. The British Isles, although small, important 
occupy a commanding position northwest of the continent por ts. 
of Europe, dominating the Atlantic and controlling the 
approaches to the continent from Brest eastward. In the 
Xew World it has Canada, larger than the United States, 
besides possessions in the West Indian region. It con- 
trols all South Africa, the continent of Australia, as well 
as numerous near-by islands, the peninsula and adjacent 
mainland of India, and almost innumerable strategi- 
cally located islands such as Malta, Cyprus, Mau-ri'tius, 
and Trinidad, such valuable fortresses as Gibraltar, and 
important ports, as Sing-a-pore 1 and Hong Kong. 

1 Wilson, The State, p. 428. 
2 1 481 



482 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



General 
character of 
dominion 
govern- 
ment. 



Benevolent 
despotism 
in British 
colonies. 



369. Empire and Colonies. — By far the most impor- 
tant of the self-governing colonies x are the groups known as 
dominions. There are four of these, the Dominions of 
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. 
Each of these dominions has its own constitution. The 
mother country appoints the governor-general of each 
dominion, and sometimes the governor (lieutenant- 
governor) of the separate states which make up the 
dominions. The upper houses of the dominion legisla- 
tures are appointed nominally by these governors-general. 
Actually, the appointment is in the hands of dominion 
ministries ; and these ministries are selected from the 
party which has a majority in the lower or popularly 
elected half of the dominion legislatures. It is possible 
to say that the governor-general compares in position 
and powers to the English king, and that, as in Great 
Britain, the ruling is done by a ministry which repre- 
sents the majority of the people of the country. In other 
words, each dominion enjoys " responsible government." 
These four dominions and Newfoundland make their own 
laws subject in practice only to the veto of their gov- 
ernors. In addition, they have the right to create tariffs. 

It would be impossible, of course, to permit tropical 
colonies to be self-governing, especially those of vast 
size which are inhabited by great numbers of densely 
ignorant natives. On the whole, the English rule in those 



1 England's dependencies may be divided into four groups : (1) those 
colonies in the temperate zones which are inhabited by people of British 
ancestry. These are, to a large ^extent, self-governing colonies. (2) A 
second group consists of the Crown colonies. These vary in size from the 
little fortress settlement at Gibraltar to huge possessions in southern 
Africa. Most of them are located in the tropics and are inhabited by 
races alien to the English. Their people have little share in the govern- 
ment of the colony. (3) In the third place we have the empire of India, 
which is a separate British dependency. (4) Britain has at the present 
time certain protectorates, which nominally are governed by native rulers 
but actually are controlled by the British "resident." 



BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 483 

colonies is strict but benevolent ; that is, the British 
government maintains order with a heavy hand, but it 
also accepts as a part of " the white man's burden " 
an obligation to rule well. It makes laws which seek to 
bring to the people better standards of civilization than 
they had before. It improves means of communication, 
including the construction of railways, as well as ordinary 
highways. It encourages agriculture, industry, and 
commerce. In fact the amount spent in these ways, 
which of course are also beneficial to British business, has 
exceeded by a considerable sum the amount spent for 
education and sanitation in these same colonies. 

An immense commerce is carried on between Great Commerce 
Britain and the colonies. In fact, if we exclude the goods between 
sent from Canada to the United States, or exported from Britain and 
India into countries of Asia around the Indian Ocean, ^ er 1 col °?!! s 
one half of the total trade of the British colonial possessions 
is with the British Isles. This shows very conclusively 
that, from the commercial point of view, the British 
Empire is exceedingly valuable to Great Britain. To 
increase trade and to improve all other relations among 
the colonies and between the mother country and the 
colonies, imperial conferences are held and imperial fed- 
eration has been proposed. 

370. Historical Development of British America. — 
England acquired eastern Canada in 1713 and 1763 
(§§ 84-85) - 1 For many years her Canadian provinces were 
governed on the model of the ordinary royal province 

1 Besides Canada, British territories in America include the West 
India possessions : the British islands in the West Indies, the largest 
of which are Jamaica and Trinidad, the outlying groups of islands known 
as the Bahamas and the Bermudas, and British territory in Honduras 
and British Guiana. In the twentieth century the West Indies no longer 
possess the commercial value which they had two centuries ago (§ 75), 
but they are important from the strategic point of view, especially since 
the completion of an interoceanic canal. 



484 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Establish- 
ment of 
"respon- 
sible gov- 
ernment" 
in the 
Canadian 
provinces. 



Organiza- 
tion of the 
Dominion. 



Dominion 
and provin- 
cial govern- 
ment. 



before the Revolutionary War.. In lower Canada, in 1837, 
friction between the British governors and the French 
population caused a rebellion which was suppressed with- 
out difficulty. The British government sent over Lord 
Durham and other commissioners to investigate the 
problem. Lord Durham was not able to work it out 
successfully, but he did publish a famous report, which 
is the foundation for the government in the self-governing 
provinces of the empire at the present time. He urged 
that colonies should not only be allowed to have repre- 
sentative assemblies, but that they should be ruled by 
ministries chosen from the party that controlled those 
assemblies. In other words, he advocated the adoption 
of the British system of " responsible " or cabinet govern- 
ment. Furthermore, he advocated the adoption of the 
American plan of federation, and urged that the provinces 
of Canada be united into a dominion. 

In 1867 Durham's suggestion was carried into effect, 
and the four British provinces on the mainland of North 
America were united into the " Dominion of Canada." 
Provision was made for the admission of colonies farther 
west and north. Two years later, the Dominion purchased 
the territorial rights of the famous Hudson Bay Company. 

371. The Dominion of Canada. — There are at the 
present time in Canada nine states and two territories. 
As stated above, each province governs itself, making 
laws on the subjects permitted by the dominion con- 
stitution. The dominion government consists of a gov- 
ernor-general appointed by the Crown, an upper house 
selected by the dominion ministry l for life, and a House 
of Commons consisting of two hundred and twenty-one 
members, chosen for a term not to exceed five years by 
popular vote. • 

Canada contains 3,603,910 square miles and in 1911 

1 Legally by the governor-general. 



BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 485 

had a population of seven millions. Quebec is still in- Area and 
habited by French Canadians, but the majority in most P°P ulatlon - 
of the other provinces are of British descent, although 
some of the new states of the Northwest are inhabited 
largely by emigrants from the United States. The 
Indian population is small. 

Canada is far north ; agriculture is therefore less exten- Agriculture, 
sive than it is south of the Great Lakes, but wheat is industr y> 

7 and corn- 

grown in large quantities in the Northwest, and the merce. 

agricultural products of Ontario are varied and valuable. 
The timber resources of the southern half of Canada are 
very great. Supplies of coal are found from the Atlantic 
westward. Considerable iron and other valuable min- 
erals are mined in the Great Lakes region. Like all new 
countries, Canada has not developed manufacturing 
very much yet, but is content to export raw materials. 
Her trade with the United States is greater than that with 
Great Britain, and her imports from this country far 
exceed those from the British Isles. During twelve 
years, from 1854-1865, Canada had a reciprocity treaty 
with the United States. An attempt was made to have 
a new reciprocity arrangement in 1911, but it was not 
popular on either side of the Great Lakes, and the treaty 
was not ratified by either country. 

Australia and Africa 

372. The Commonwealth of Australia. — Coloniza- The early 
tion of Australia started with New South Wales. For hlstor y- 
many years it was a " convict colony " used chiefly for 
the transportation of " ticket-of-leave men," who had 
been sentenced to death in the British Isles. In 1851, 
gold was discovered in Victoria, and several hundred 
thousand men came to the colony for the purpose of get- 
ting rich quickly ; most of them remained as permanent 
settlers. The development of Australia and her several 



486 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Organiza- 
tion and 
government 
of the 
Australian 
dominion. 



provinces has depended chiefly upon opportunities for 
grazing and farming rather than upon her mineral products. 
By 1911 the population had grown to five millions. 

Before 1900 there had been repeated attempts to bring 
the six provinces, including Tas-ma'ni-a, together into 
a single union, but they were jealous of each other. Fi- 
nally, however, in 1900 the " Commonwealth of Australia " 
was created, and the different provinces were organized 




The Public Offices, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 



into a federal union. 1 The central government con- 
sists of a governor-general, appointed by the British 
ministry, of a Senate of thirty-six members (six from 
each state) , and of a House of Representatives of seventy- 
five members, chosen, like our House of Representatives, 

1 This union, like that of the United States, leaves all residuary powers 
to the separate states. The powers of the central government are there- 
fore specifically stated, as in our American Constitution. 



AUSTRALIA 



487 



according to population. The right to interpret the Con- 
stitution is left to the High Court of the Commonwealth, 
just as we leave a similar power to our United States 
Supreme Court. The Commonwealth is ruled by a 
cabinet similar to that of Great Britain and responsible 
to the commonwealth parliament. 



120° 

AUSTRALIA 
AND 

NEW ZEALAND Jfgjj^: 

SCALE OF MILES 




The constitution of Australia can be amended by popular Popular 

referendum. It may also be amended in a manner similar P artlcl P a - 

f ' i - tlon ln 

to ours, by vote of the commonwealth parliament, to- government 

gether with ratification by the state parliaments. The mAus traha. 

members of the commonwealth parliament and of those 

in the separate states are elected by popular vote, and 

suffrage is universal. 



488 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



373. Reforms and Development in Australia and New 
Zealand. — Australia and her neighbor New Zealand have 
been pioneers in developing new political methods, and in 
inaugurating social reforms. The secret ballot, which 
is used in most American states, is still called the 
Australian ballot, although we adopted it from Great 
Britain, not directly from Australia. Woman suffrage 
prevails in both dominions. 

A great many laws have been passed for the care of 
the poor and to give better protection to workingmen. 
Among these are measures providing pensions for people 
over sixty-five years of age, pensions which are twice as 
large as those granted in Great Britain (§ 348). Sickness 
insurance and workingmen's compensation are forms of 
social insurance tried out in Australia- earlier than in 
Great Britain or the United States. The railways of 
Australia are owned by the government. To prevent 
disputes between capitalists and workers, trade boards 
have been created in Victoria and in two other states. 
New South Wales, however, uses the New Zealand system 
of compulsory arbitration. 

A score of years ago New Zealand was well advertised 
in America as the country without strikes. She provided 
that if any organization of workingmen had a dispute 
with their employer, they might secure arbitration of 
their differences. Until 1907 compulsory arbitration prac- 
tically freed New Zealand from strikes; since then occa- 
sional strikes have occurred. " Government-owned rail- 
ways, government life-insurance, accident insurance, and 
fire insurance offices, and government coal mines were 
some of New Zealand's experiments in state socialism. 
Notable also was the land tax, which was graduated so 
as to fall chiefly on great landlords, and the Advance 
to Settlers Act (1894) which provided government loans 
to farmers. . . . Pensions were given to aged working 



BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA 



489 



people (1898), and compensation to working men injured 
by accident (1900)." 1 

374. South Africa before 1895. — British control in Beginnings 
South Africa dates from the capture of Cape Town from of 1 B ^ tl Q h 
the Dutch in 1805 and the transfer of the Cape Colony Colony, 
to Great Britain in 1814 (§ 171). Practically all of the 
white inhabitants of South Africa of that time were 
Dutch, but a considerable number of British settlers 




Boers Trekking across River 



migrated to the Cape within the next few years. The 
Dutch people did not get along well with their English 
rulers, largely because the English abolished slavery, 
and did other things which hurt the Boer pride or the 
Boer pocketbook, for British rule was not arbitrary. 

In 1836 the Boers began their first trek, and went out on British and 
the frontiers of South Africa. As the British colony ^° e j£_ in 
expanded, they made new treks into what was later the terior. 
Orange Free State and across the Vaal River into the 

1 Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 650. 



490 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Events 
leading to 
war. 



Prolonged 

guerrilla 

warfare. 



375. 

Under 



The Boer War 

the leadership 



Transvaal. The British officials at Cape Colony tried, 
unsuccessfully, to extend their authority over these 
Boer frontiersmen. In 1871, however, the British govern- 
ment brought under its control the valuable diamond 
fields at Kimberley, a small sum being paid to the Orange 
Free State government for the area that was seized. 
With the discovery of very rich gold deposits in the Rand 
region of the Transvaal, large numbers of foreigners, 
chiefly Englishmen, flocked thither in a new search for 
the Golden Fleece. 

and Union of South Africa. — 
of Cecil Rhodes and other en- 
terprising Englishmen, chartered 
companies had been pressing into 
the interior of Africa, so that 
the Boer republics were practi- 
cally surrounded by British pos- 
sessions. From one of these Dr. 
Jameson and some armed forces 
raided the Transvaal (1895) and 
tried to start an insurrection. 
The "Jameson Raid" had im- 
portant consequences, for it 
showed the unrest of the British 
settlers in the Transvaal, it 
warned the Boers of a possible 
British uprising, and it caused friction between Great 
Britain and Germany due to the congratulatory telegram 
sent by Emperor William II to President Kruger (§ 424). 
In 1899 war broke out between the British and Boers 
in South Africa. During the first period of the war the 
advantage was with the Boers, who were aggressive, 
showed that they meant business, and by the extraordinary 
accuracy of their rifle-fire caused havoc among the British 
forces. With the arrival of reinforcements from Great 




Cecil Rhodes 



BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA 491 

Britain, Canada, and Australia, the British armies under 
the command of Lord Roberts finally overpowered Boer 
resistance. The war itself lasted really less than a year 
and a half, but more than two years elapsed before peace 
was finally made. Great Britain promised to grant cabinet 
or responsible government to the two Boer republics. 

Need of combined action in all of the provinces was so Reconciiia- 
great that in 1909 the Union of South Africa was com- B°g r ° f and 
pleted. The four colonies, Cape Colony, Natal, the union of 
Transvaal, and the Orange Free State, formed a highly ^^^ T0V ~ 
centralized dominion. The liberal policy of the British 
authorities was well repaid by the loyalty to the British 
Empire of the Boer leaders and many of the Boer people. 
In the campaigns in South Africa during the Great War, 
two former Boer generals fought successful campaigns 
against their German opponents. 

376. Egypt and Europe before 1883. - — Egypt has Relations 
long been under British rule but it did not become a \f^ e 
British protectorate until after the outbreak of the Great 
War. It will be remembered l that the Egyptians lost 
their independence in 525 b.c. and have since been 
under the rule of successive world empires. In the 
sixteenth century the Turks overran Egypt, which they 
ruled until the early part of the nineteenth century 
through a resident governor. After Napoleon's attempt 
to get control of Egypt as a halfway station to India 
(§ 144), a very able governor, Me' he-met A'li, made him- 
self almost independent of the sultan at Constantinople. 

Centuries ago the Egyptians had canals across part of The Suez 
the Suez peninsula. Napoleon hoped to construct a ^ncia^ 
waterway connecting the Mediterranean with the Red problems. 
Sea. After 1850 the French, now ruled by Napoleon III, 
revived the project of a ship-canal and started construc- 
tion under de Lesseps. Much money was spent and much, 

iE. E. C. f §48. 



492 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



British in- 
tervention 
in Egypt 

(1882). 



Vacillating 
policy in 
early years. 



especially Egyptian funds, was wasted. In a few years 
the khedive, Ishmael, who lived very extravagantly, had 
created a debt of nearly $500,000,000. To insure the 
protection of European investors in Egypt, the French 
and British governments (1878) established a dual control 
over the country. 

In 1882 the condition of Egypt was very bad indeed. 
There was a strong feeling against European interference 
and a growing demand that " Egypt should be governed 
for the Egyptians." The government of the khedive 
was absolutely unable to restore order, and when called 
upon, the Turkish sultan was either unwilling or im- 
potent. The British fleet, therefore, nominally for the 
purpose of protecting British residents in Alexandria, in 
May, 1882, bombarded near-by forts and captured the city. 1 

377. British Occupation of Egypt. — The British oc- 
cupied all northern Egypt, but declared that their oc- 
cupation was temporary, and that they would leave as 
soon as order was restored. For years the government 
pursued a somewhat halting policy, advancing into the 
interior and using force only when nothing short of 
violence was adequate. The result of this vacillation 
was disastrous. General :" Chinese " Gordon, who had 
helped to put down the Tai-ping rebellion (§ 388), was 
appointed to look after the Egyptian Su-dan'. In 1886, 
just before a British army relieved the city of Khar'toum, 
the place was taken by assault and Gordon was murdered. 
The death of Gordon was largely responsible for the over- 
throw of the third Gladstone ministry (§ 346). 

Ten years later Kitchener was selected to regain control 
of the Egyptian Sudan. He did this with a severity 



1 The French were invited to take part in this movement, but declined 
to do so until this drastic action was indorsed by the French Chamber 
of Deputies — and the French lower house refused to do so by a decided 
majority. 



BRITISH IN EGYPT 493 



characteristic of the man, and in spite of the fact that Reconquest 

of the 
Sudan. 



the " little fuzzy-wuzzys of the Sudan " were " first- of the 



class fighting men." In 1898 he defeated the largest 
army of the Su-da-nese' and then occupied Om-dur-man'. 
While there he learned of the presence at Fa-sho'da, a 
village on the Nile river, of a small force under a French 
officer, Marchand (Mar-shan') (§ 406). At once he com- 
pelled these invaders to surrender. The next year, the 
French promised to keep out of the Egyptian Sudan, and 
in 1904, by the ''Entente Cordiale" (§ 423), in return 
for a free hand in Morocco, they agreed not to stir up 
further trouble in Egypt nor to demand that Britain 
should set a date for ending her occupation of the country. 

378. British Rule and Reforms in Egypt. — No one Nature and 
can question that, however much the Egyptians might 5"??? °i 
have preferred to rule themselves, the British occupation ministra- 
of Egypt was an excellent thing for the country and the tlon ' 
people. In the first place, the British restored order, 
which may not have been what the Egyptians wanted, but 
was what they needed. In the second place, they re- 
organized the finances, and, without increasing the taxes, 
they have paid the expenses of a good government and 
have made many wise investments in addition. They 
have not given to the Egyptians a great share in the gov- 
ernment, partly because the people have not been in- 
terested to make use of the opportunities which were 
offered them. While the British officials had com- 
paratively little legal authority before 1914, nothing could 
be done without their consent, and things must be done 
if they wished. Failures to carry out British wishes or 
instructions were prevented by the army of occupation. 

Two of the greatest reforms instituted by the English Social 
were the forbidding of whipping by local officials as a means reforms - 
of maintaining order and the abolition of the vile prisons, 
which were more in need of reform than were those in 



494 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Commercial 
advantages 
of British 
rule. 



England before the days of John Howard (§98). Very 
little attention had been paid before 1882 to sanitation, 
but under English rule measures were taken to prevent the 
spread of cholera and other epidemics, and some necessary 
sanitary regulations were enforced. 1 

The construction of the Suez Canal was of some benefit 
commercially, because it gave rise to a northern com- 
mercial port, Port Said, at the entrance of the Suez 
Canal, and revived the trade of Alexandria, which has 




Scene on Suez Canal 



regained something like its ancient commercial prestige 2 
since the beginning of the British occupation. The 
English have introduced some better and newer agricul- 
tural methods and have conferred untold benefits upon 

1 Among these were the substitution of cleanly supplies of drinking 
water for water from streams polluted with the sewage of cities farther up 
the Nile. Unfortunately, little has been done for education, for at the end 
of the nineteenth century less than two per cent of the women and not 
more than fifteen per cent of the men were able to read and write. 

2 E. E. C, § 216. 



BRITISH INDIA 495 

the country by the construction of irrigation dams, no- 
tably at As-su-an'. By this means they have created irri- 
gation systems which have not only reclaimed regions that 
hitherto were arid, but have furnished a supply of water 
throughout the growing season to lands which formerly 
depended entirely on the annual inundation. 

The British in India 

379. British India. — British India to-day covers an Geographi- 
area equal to about two thirds of Europe. It consists c ^ dlvl " 

^ L sions and 

of three rather distinct parts : (1) the southern half of peoples, 
the peninsula of India, which is best known as the Deccan, 
and the Island of Ceylon ; (2) Hin-du-stan' , or the plains 
and valleys of northern India south of the Hi-ma'la-ya 
mountains ; (3) the broad stretch of land from eastern 
Burma across the northern plateaus of the Himalayas into 
the plateaus of Beluchistan on the borders of Persia. 
India has almost every kind of climate and a great variety 
of soil and products. Its peoples vary from short, dark 
races of the south to the tall, fair-skinned peoples of the 
northern valleys, and to tribes allied to the Chinese in 
the northeast. ' 

Most of the three hundred fifteen millions of people in Different 
British India are believers in the Hindu religion. Origi- rell s lons - 
nally this religion was represented in the Vedas, but modern 
Hinduism is a faith which places special emphasis upon 
forms and ceremonies, although the deity who is wor- 
shiped may be wholly unworthy of reverence. The Hindu 
thinks that life should not be sacrificed because he 
believes in the transmigration of souls. A second very 
large religious group is made up of followers of Mo- 
hammed. 1 Mohammedanism has not prospered in India 
during the last two or three centuries. A third group 

i E. E. C, § 444. 




200 400 600 
British Provinces 



Native States under British control 



496 



BRITISH INDIA 497 

is still large but declining, that of the Buddhists. 1 
In addition there are several million Christians and 
numerous other religious sects. 

The people of India are divided into castes. A man is The caste 
born into a caste and must follow the usages of his caste ?^ s * e ™ and 

& its mflu- 

until death. He may not marry any one except another ence. 
member of the same caste, nor can he eat forbidden foods, 
nor engage in any occupation except one permitted for 
his caste. A person of the lower caste must not watch 
his superiors eat nor cast a shadow upon them. Caste 
and iron-clad religious rules of life limit the actions of 
the people of India every hour of the day. 

380. India before 1800. — The civilization of India Succession 
dates from the invasion of the tall f air-skinned hill peoples of ^ nvaslons 
from the northwest soon after the time of Ham-mu-ra'bi controlling 
in Babylon. 2 More than twenty centuries later the d y nasties « 
Mohammedans began to invade India through the passes 
of the northwest, but they made no real attempts to con- 
quer the country until the sixteenth century. In 1526, 
a descendant of Tam'er-lane 3 founded a Mogul empire in 
India. 4 Under the Moguls, most of the beautiful build- 
ings of northern India were constructed. One of these, 
the Taj Ma-hal', the mausoleum of a Mogul emperor, 
is considered among the finest pieces of architecture in 
the world. In 1707 the Mogul empire fell to pieces 
(§ 86) and a new set of rulers, the leaders of the Mah-rat'ta 

1 In the sixth century b.c. Prince Gau'ta-ma, the Buddha, lived a life of 
exceptional excellence and taught doctrines far in advance of those of 
that time. The cardinal idea of Buddhism is loss of individuality in the 
all-powerful creator. Buddhists therefore place great stress on asceti- 
cism. They live apart from the world and by cruel personal injuries 
they seek to destroy all sense of self. 

2 E. E. C, §56. >E. E. C, § 573. 

4 The greatest of these Mogul rulers was Akbar the Great (§ 86), 
who brought most of India under his sway and established an enlightened 
rule, noted for its wise modern system of taxation and encouragement 
to agriculture, industry, and art. 
2k 



498 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Beginnings 
of empire 
under the 
East India 
Company. 



confederacy, sought to establish their rule over northern 
Deccan and southern Hindustan. They were rather suc- 
cessful at first, but the confederacy never had sufficient 
unity to maintain authority over a large part of the 
country. 

In 1600 the English government chartered the first 
East India Company. No ships were sent out for several 




Taj Mahal, Agra, India 



years, but in 1612 Surat near Bombay was occupied, and, 
later, English trading posts were established on the east 
shores of India as well. For a century and a half the 
English were little more prosperous than the French or 
the Portuguese, and the volume of their trade, even in 
India, was decidedly inferior to that of the Dutch East 
India Company. About the middle of the eighteenth 
century, however, as we noticed (§86), Bengal, in the 



BRITISH INDIA 499 

lower Ganges basin, became the first British province in 
India. 1 

381. The East India Company in the Nineteenth Extension 
Century. — British rule was extended rather rapidly 2 ^ommions 
over the territories controlled by the Mahrattas and over 
chiefs whose armies were directed by French officers, 
during the Napoleonic period. Later, there was trouble 
with some of the newly conquered races, and some of 
the older subjects were ready to revolt against the rather 
arbitrary and shortsightedly benevolent British policy. 
For example, although the English allowed the people to 
follow their own religious practices in general, they had 
forbidden " suttee," that is, the burning of widows, and 
other revolting practices. 

In 1857 the unrest in India broke out in a great rebel- The great 
lion known as the Sepoy Revolt. Throughout the valley Se ?.°f,? K e Jv 
of the upper Ganges, the Sepoy Mutiny spread with alarm- 
ing rapidity. At C "awn-pore' ', British troops and residents, 
including women and children, were massacred without 
mercy. The small garrison of Lucknow courageously 
held out until relief came. In the end, of course, the 
British troops triumphed. They took barbarous re- 
venge upon some of the captured sepoys ; in return for 
the massacre at Cawnpore, hundreds were blown to 
pieces at the mouths of cannons. In 1858 the East 

1 When Warren Hastings, governor-general of the company, was 
accused of arbitrary and corrupt acts, he was tried before Parliament 
(1784) ; thereafter. Parliament rather than the company directed the 
affairs of India, although the company continued in existence until 1858. 
After 1784 British authority in India was extended by Lord Cornwallis, 
who had fought unsuccessfully against George Washington, and by Welles- 
ley, elder brother of the Duke of Wellington. 

2 By 1805 the English had overpowered all other bodies that threat- 
ened British supremacy in India. Under Lord Dal-hou'sie, "the last of 
the great empire builders," British rule was extended eastward into 
Burma and farther into the northwest, so that even the ruler of Beluchi- 
stan agreed to support the British in all their plans. 



500 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



General and 
local gov- 
ernments. 



Some im- 
portant re- 
forms. 



India Company lost all control over the government of 
India, which from that time was ruled absolutely and 
directly by the British government. 

382. Progress and Problems under British Rule. — 
India is governed to a large extent from London. In the 
British ministry there is a secretary of foreign affairs for 
India. In India there is a viceroy with very extensive au- 
thority, aided by a council made up chiefly of Englishmen 
and a legislative council of more than sixty members, about 
half of whom are officials, although many are Indians. 
This central government has charge of the army, general 
control of finances, public utilities, and of some relations 
with other countries. India is, however, divided into 
districts, some of which are under British rule 'and some 
of which are under native princes. In each of the British 
districts is a governor, a council, and a legislative council, 
similar to that of British India. 

British rule in India has been exceedingly beneficial 
in a number of ways. In the first place, it maintains 
order. The Indians are not essentially an unruly people, 
yet for centuries the majority of them have not been 
under governments which punished law-breakers and 
safeguarded life and property. British rule has also 
reduced taxes, because British officials and their native 
dependents are not nearly so corrupt as most of the rulers 
in former ages. Since the English came in, sanitation 
has been improving. That the reform has been only 
partial has been the misfortune rather than the fault of 
the British authorities. Many of the religious customs 
of the natives make it impossible either to enact or en- 
force proper sanitary regulations. In consequence epi- 
demics are still common, and the death rate is very 
much higher than it should be. By the construction of 
railroads and the building of important highways, an end 
has been put to the isolation of the different districts 



BRITISH INDIA 501 

and villages, and the terrible suffering from famine has 
been reduced. 

That the English have not solved most of their Indian National 
problems is unquestioned. In the first place, they do ^^^ 
not control directly more than three fourths of the people 
of India. In the second place, religious usages and preju- 
dices interfere with many reform movements. In the 
third place, custom makes it impossible to introduce re- 
forms rapidly. Among problems as yet unsolved is that 
of creating a nation out of these congeries of races. In 
spite of the diversity of racial groups, there is in India, 
as there has been throughout other countries of the 
Orient within the last twenty years, a nationalist move- 
ment, to create an India for the Indians. There is a 
Young India, just as nearly a century ago there was a 
Young Italy, and as in more recent years there have been 
Young Turks, and similar groups in other countries. 
The future of India is a problem not only for the peoples 
of the peninsula and of the British Empire, but of other 
European countries and the rest of the world. 

383. British and Russians in Central Asia. — While The Rus- 
the English were expanding to the northeast, to the north, slan . , 

° tr a i ^ } vance into 

and to the northwest from the valley of the Ganges river, central 
the Russians, who had overrun Siberia in the seventeenth ^ e s tern 
century and the early eighteenth century, were advancing 
with glacier-like slowness but sureness toward the Persian Gulf 
and the frontiers of India. During the nineteenth century 
Russia gained her first foothold near the south end of 
the Caspian Sea, extended her sway into the Caucasus 
region, and, after the Turkish War of 1877, beyond the 
Caucasus mountains into northern Armenia. She also 
occupied Turkistan. 

In the meantime, the British, about the middle of the British 
century, had gained nominal control of Be-lu-chi-stan' ', adv t ^ nce st 
which they annexed in 1887. They had sought much of India. 



502 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Reentry of 
Persia into 
world 
affairs. 



Attempted 
reforms and 
division of 
spheres of 
influence. 



General 
character 
of British 
Empire and 
rule. 



earlier to intimidate the rulers of Af-ghan-i-stan'. In 1841 
an English force, which had advanced into Afghanistan, 
was surprised and annihilated by the Afghans ; only one 
man survived to bring the news of the terrible disaster. 
By 1880, however, the English had gained control of the 
foreign relations of Afghanistan, and, in the agreement 
of 1907, upon which the Triple Entente (§ 425) was based, 
Russia recognized Great Britain's right to control foreign 
affairs of Afghanistan and agreed that neither should 
seize any of her territory. 

384. The Partition of Persia. — In spite of her great- 
ness in the days before Alexander the Great, the part 
played by Persia in modern history has been slight. 
With the advance of the Russian, and British control in 
Beluchistan and Afghanistan, and with the development 
by the Germans of plans for a Berlin to Bagdad railroad 
(§ 413), which would give Germany access to the Per- 
sian Gulf on the west of Persia, Persian affairs again 
became important in the international history of the 
world. 

In 1906 the shah or king of Persia granted certain 
reforms to the Young Persian party. These concessions 
included a Persian parliament. The revolution gave 
Russian and British capitalists excuse to invade the 
country, and Persia was divided into three spheres of influ- 
ence. The northern, which was controlled by Russia, prac- 
tically converted the Caspian Sea into a Russian lake. 
The southern, which bordered on the Gulf of Oman, was 
under British protection, and a middle strip, including all 
Persian territory on the Persian Gulf, was left temporarily 
to the Persians. 

385. Summary. — The British Empire comprises prac- 
tically a quarter of the land area and inhabitants of the 
globe. It includes Canada, Australia, South Africa, and 
numerous other areas. Only those colonies inhabited 



THE BRITISH EMPIRE 503 

chiefly by Englishmen are really self-governing. Four 
groups of colonies form dominions. 

Canada was the first important British colony to enjoy Canada and 
representative assemblies, responsible government, and Australla - 
federation or dominion. The Dominion as well as the 
separate provinces have bicameral legislatures. The 
country is noted for its resources and its agricultural 
products. Relations with the United States have been 
cordial, and at times intimate. About as large as Canada, 
if at the other end of the globe, is the Commonwealth or 
Dominion of Australia, noted for its wheat, its sheep, and 
its gold. Both Australia and her neighbor New Zealand 
have been distinguished for extensive governmental ac- 
tivities and social reforms. 

The British peoples have had colonies in Africa for The British 
only a hundred years. When they went into South inAfnca - 
Africa, the Boers or Dutch settlers moved out. Later, 
friction arose over control of the diamond fields, gold 
mines, and the general regulation of South African affairs. 
These controversies culminated in 1899 in the Boer War, 
in which the Boers were overpowered. North of the 
Union of South Africa is Rho-de'si-a. Still farther north 
is British East Africa, and beyond that lies the Egyptian 
Sudan. These are colonies or protectorates of the United 
Kingdom. In the northeastern corner of Africa is Egypt, 
which for nearly twenty-five centuries has been ruled by 
aliens. The English became interested in it because 
it is a halfway station to India; in 1878 the French and 
English established dual financial control. A few years 
later, the British, without the French, " occupied " 
Egypt, and in 1904, by agreement, the " Entente Cor- 
diale," France left England in absolute control. Many 
reforms have been made, agriculture has developed, and 
the finances have been reorganized. In 1914 Egypt was 
organized as a British protectorate. 



504 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

The British British India covers more than the peninsula, and its 
in India. population includes numerous different groups, some of 
whom have a modern version of Hinduism, although 
others are Mohammedans, or Buddhists, or Christians. 
At first the English, like other Europeans, had seaport 
trading posts, but at the time of the Seven Years' War, 
the English were victorious over both the French and the 
natives, especially in the lower Ganges valley. In later 
years British leaders extended their sway into the in- 
terior and into the mountain regions of the north. The 
people of India have little share in their government, 
which is made up of a viceroy, and other officials sent 
from Great Britain, assisted by an army of British and 
native troops. British rule has brought India some pros- 
perity, has reduced famines somewhat, but has not made 
the progress in education which one would expect. There 
is unrest in India and desire on the part of many educated 
people for a national rule of their own. To the northwest 
the English have come into conflict with the Russians. 

General References 

Wilson, The State, §§ 1011-1031. 
Hazen, Modern European History, 487-506. 
Hayes, Political and Social History of Europe, II, 640-678. 
Innes, England and the British Empire, IV, 22-28, 107-119, 
210-248, 269-294, 326-333, 383-399, 440-447, 470-480. 
Lowell, The Government of England, II, 386-438. 
Woodward, Expansion of the British Empire. 
Lucas, The British Empire. 
Holderness, Peoples and Problems of India. 
Seeley, Expansion of England. 
Ashley (ed.), British Dominions. 
Egerton, Short History of British Colonial Policy. 
Northcott, Australian Social Development. 

Topics 
Responsible Government and Federation in Canada: 
Lucas, The British Empire, 116-122 ; Calkin, History of British 



THE BRITISH EMPIRE 505 

America, 138-153, 164-173; Bourinot, Canada, 1760-1900, 
165-185, 194-215. 

The Boers in South Africa : Johnston, The Colonization of 
Africa, 82-90; Harris, Intervention and Colonization in Africa, 
166-193; Larned (ed.), History for Ready Reference, IV, 2962- 
2964; VI, 456-±98; VII, 620-627. 

British Rule in Egypt: Gibbons, The New Map of Africa, 
391-420 ; Harris, Intervention and Colonization in Africa, 320- 
329; World's Work, 14 (1907), 9063-9085; Penfield, Present Day 
Egypt, 104-169, Ch. X; Seignobos, Political History of Europe 
since 1814, 657-664. 

British Rule in India : Hayes, Political and Social History 
of Europe, II, 669-672 ; Woodward, Expansion of the British 
Empire, 312-331 ; Holderness, Peoples and Problems of India, 
157-180 ; Frazer, British Rule in India, Ch. XVI. 

Studies 

1. The Empire in general. Lowell, The Government of Eng- 
land, II, 386-391. 

2. Rebellion in Ontario (1837). Bourinot, Canada, 1760- 
1900, 13&-156. 

3. Relations of Canada and the United States (1850-1900). 
Bourinot, Canada, 1760-1900, 302-313. 

4. Government of Canada to-day. Wilson, The State, 
§§1016-1022. 

5. The Commonwealth of Australia and its constitution. 
Beard (ed.), Introduction to the English Historians, 645-662. 

6. Social reforms in Australia. Bliss (ed.), New Encyclopedia 
of Social Reform, 75-79, 834-837. 

7. Compulsory arbitration in New Zealand. Beeman (ed.), 
Compulsory Arbitration (Debaters' Handbook Series), 67-75. 

8. The Boer War. Innes, England and the British Empire, 
IV, 470-480. 

9. The South African Union. Gibbons, The New Map of 
Africa, 441-^53. 

10. Egypt as a British protectorate. Gibbons, The New Map 
of Africa, 421^40. 

11. The Indian mutiny of 1857. Beard (ed.), Introduction 
to the English Historians, 638-644. 

12. Unrest and national demands in India. Holderness, 
Peoples and Problems of India, 233-251. 



506 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

13. Imperial federation. Lowell, The Government of the 
British Empire, II, 430-438. 

14. The passing of Persia. Gibbons, The New Map of Europe, 
84-95. 

Questions 

1. Name the most important colonies in the British Empire. 
Show how some of the smaller possessions are important from 
a commercial or strategic point of view. Classify the colonies 
according to the degree of control exercised over them by the 
mother country. Explain the general nature of British rule, 
and account for the extraordinary success of the British as 
empire builders. 

2. Name the more important provinces in the' Dominion of 
Canada. Define the terms dominion, responsible government, 
federation, and commonwealth. Explain the government and 
the commercial importance of Canada, and trace her more im- 
portant relations with the United States. 

3. Which are the two most important provinces in Australia? 
Compare the federal union of the Commonwealth with that of 
the United States, noting similarities and differences. For what 
governmental activities and social reforms are Australia and 
New Zealand famous ? 

4. What was the nature and importance of the Jameson 
Raid? Why should it have caused friction between Great 
Britain and Germany? Give causes, one event, and results 
of the Boer War. Name the colonies in the Union of South 
Africa. Explain the nature of the Union, and show how suc- 
cessful it has been in uniting the British colonists and the 
Boers. 

5. Compare British policy in Egypt in the years following 
1882 with American policy in Mexico following the overthrow 
of Diaz in 1910. How was Kitchener's conquest of the Sudan 
connected with the "Entente Cordiale" (1904) and the friendship 
of Great Britain and France? What was the nature of British 
rule in Egypt before 1914, and how did the Egyptians feel about 
it ? Name and explain the most important reforms and changes 
brought about by British occupation. 

6. Name the most important geographical divisions of British 
India. Characterize the most important races and religions. 
What peoples controlled India from the time of Queen Eliza- 
beth to that of Queen Victoria ? 



THE BRITISH EMPIRE 507 

7. How is India ruled at the present time? Name some of 
the benefits of British rule. What is the attitude of the people 
of India toward British control? What is the nature of the 
"Nationalist movement" in India? Cf. in time and character 
with nationalist movements in Persia (§ 384), Egypt (§ 377), 
Turkey (§ 413), Morocco (§ 426), and China (§ 390). 

8. Explain the contest among the Great Powers for territory, 
spheres of influence, or commerce in central or southwestern 
Asia. Explain the aims, and enumerate the successes of Great 
Britain, Russia, and Germany. (Cf. §§ 383, 413.) 



Area and 
population 
of China 
proper. 



Outlying 
areas of 
Greater 
China. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE FAR EAST 

China 

386. Land and People. — A study of the expansion of 
European civilization in modern times would be in- 
complete without some account of the " westernization " 
of the oldest country of the world, China, and of the new 
world power of the western Pacific, Japan. Greater China 
is considerably larger than the United States and has a 
population estimated about four times as great. China 
proper, however, which contains about three fourths of 
these people, is about half as large as the continental 
United States; it comprises the southeastern two fifths 
of the whole country. The Chinese people are remarkably 
alike in appearance and in general character, yet the 
people of the different provinces, even of China proper, 
speak many different dialects, use different kinds of food, 
and have little in common except their attachment to 
traditions and their pride in all things Chinese. 

To the north and west of China proper are a number of 
huge areas inhabited by peoples somewhat related to the 
Chinese, who are not in any true sense Chinese. The 
most northeasterly of these provinces is Man-chu'ri-a, 
which lies between the Yellow Sea and Siberia. Far 
larger, though less important and even more sparsely 
populated, is Mon-go'li-a, separated from China by the 
Great Chinese Wall. In the heart of Asia the Chinese still 
control, nominally at least, the two huge areas of Sin 
ki-ang' and of Ti-bet' '. 

508 



CHINA 



509 



China occupies in Asia an area in the North Temperate Position, 
zone corresponding in a general way to that occupied r ™jr basins, 
by the United States in the North American continent, ais. 
She has two river basins, those of the Yang-tse' and the 
Hwang Ho, which, like that of the Mississippi, are among 
the finest river valleys in the world. A large part of 
her land is fertile, and therefore arable. Her supplies 
of minerals are probably the richest in the world, for the 




Iron Works, Hankow, China 



coal beds of which we have knowledge are twenty times 
as extensive &s those of all Europe, and she has large 
supplies of iron, copper, and other minerals. 

387. Old China. — Greater China has natural bound- 
aries. On the east she faces the Pacific, and on the 
southwest and northwest is hemmed in by high moun- and its 
tains. It has therefore been possible for China to de- effe ^ on . an 

.... . unchanging 

velop her own institutions, customs, and civilization with- 
out very much help from, or interference by, the rest of 
the world. In the forty centuries of Chinese history we 
find that the important changes and development occurred 



Geographi- 
cal isolation 
of China 



civilization. 



510 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Reasons for 
little change 
in China. 



Imperial 
rule of the 
Mongols 
and the 
Manchus. 



Partial 
break-up of 
the Chinese 
empire 
(1860-1900) 



Beginnings 
of European 
influence in 
China. 



before the Christian era, and that during the last 2000 
years China has neither grown much nor changed greatly. 

One reason for the permanence of Chinese civilization 
is found in the nature of the Chinese people, but the 
reverence for ancestors and respect for precedent, taught by 
Con-fu'cius and learned thoroughly by the people, are to 
a great extent responsible for the fact that China's culture 
to-day is like that of past ages. 

We will recall that during the Middle Ages l the Mongols 
controlled China and extended their sway westward 
into Europe, and southwestward almost to the Mediter- 
ranean Sea and Indian Ocean. After that empire fell 
apart, China was brought under the rule of the Man-chus' ? 
a tribe from north-central Asia. The earlier rulers of 
this dynasty were conquerors and extended their sway 
not only over the outlying areas which we have mentioned, 
but also over the states south and southwest of the present 
boundaries of China. They introduced the custom which 
forced every Chinaman to wear his hair in a queue to 
show his subjection to the ruling Manchus. 

In the nineteenth century the Manchus lost their grip 
on Chinese -affairs. As a result, the Russians on the 
north and west, the Japanese on the northeast, the 
British on the southwest, and the French on the south- 
east seized territories which either were part of the 
Chinese Empire or had been tributary to it. 

388. Increasing Outside Influence in China. — About 
1840 the Chinese government, which did not allow for- 
eigners to trade at any of its ports, had a dispute 
with the English over commerce, particularly that in 
opium. This " opium war " was settled in favor of the 
English, who acquired the island of Hong Kong and in 
addition gained the right to trade at five Chinese ports. 
A few years later the French and the English took part 

1 E. E. C, § 573. 2 In 1644 a.d. 



CHINA 



511 



in another trade war with the Chinese, as a result of which 
still further concessions were made. In the meantime 
other countries, including the United States, in a peaceful 
way, by treaty, had gained similar concessions. 1 

European peoples and Asiatic neighbors of China de- The Chino- 
sired opportunities to develop Chinese trade and re- Japanese 

^^ war (1894). 




C BIAMj CH1NA / ""ffcHiNA 



sea 



sources. In 1894 the Japanese and Chinese came into 
conflict over Korea, a country over which China claimed 
sovereignty, and which Japan wanted. In this war 
the Chinese fought bravely, but, with their antiquated 

1 About the middle of the nineteenth century, also, a British officer, 
Gordon, helped the Chinese authorities to put down the Tai-ping Rebel- 
lion in the southern and central provinces of China proper. From this 
distinguished service he earned the name "Chinese" Gordon (see § 377). 



512 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Invasion of 
China by 
European 
capital. 



The 

scramble for 

concessions 

(1898). 



The Boxer 
uprising. 



weapons and with their untrained seamen and guns, they 
were no match for the Japanese, with their modern military 
equipment and training. By the treaty of Shi' 'mo-no- se-ki, 
1895, Japan gained the island of Formosa and control of 
the Li-ao'tung peninsula, which juts out from southern 
Manchuria into the Yellow Sea. But she was not allowed 
to keep this peninsula, for immediately Russia, Ger- 
many, and France forced its return to China. 

389. Foreign Aggressions and Intervention (1898- 
1900). — In the last years of the nineteenth century the 
Chinese Empire seemed to be disintegrating rapidly. 
Through the aggressions of foreigners, European capital 
built railroads in several communities and began to 
develop some of China's limitless resources. Unfortu- 
nately the railroads crossed very numerous graveyards, 
for each household buried its ancestors near at hand, 
where they might be worshiped daily. 

In 1898 the murder of two German missionaries gave 
Germany excuse for seizing a sphere of influence at Ki-ao- 
chau' . The kaiser's brother was told to use the " mailed 
fist," an expression which has since been applied to Ger- 
many's domineering military methods. Immediately, 
the other great Powers started a scramble for concessions. 
Russia gained a long-time lease on the Liao-tung penin- 
sula, including Port Arthur and the neighboring port of 
Dalny, and including also the right to construct and 
police a railroad from the trans-Siberian railroad across 
Manchuria to Port Arthur. Great Britain gained con- 
trol of Wei-hai' Wei, near the German sphere of influence, 
and the French acquired a sphere of influence near Ton'kin, 
which they had occupied a few years earlier (§ 266). 

Even the docile Chinese resented continued inter- 
ference by foreigners, and they organized patriotic so- 
cieties which we know as the Boxers. With the aid of the 
empress dowager, a capable, ambitious, and unscrupulous 



CHINA 513 

woman, in 1900 the Boxer revolt broke out. In all 
parts of China missionaries were murdered and attacks 
were made upon other foreigners. The German minister 
was killed, and the other Europeans in Peking were 
besieged by a Boxer army. For the protection of these 
white men and women, an allied force advanced against 
Peking. This was made up of Japanese, Russian, Ger- 
man, British, and American troops. The kaiser told his 
officers to treat the Chinese as the Huns did the Euro- 
peans centuries ago. 1 

After the Boxer revolt was suppressed, the Chinese Concessions 
government was forced to execute the leaders and to pay *?f? e by 

.'.--- China; 

the Powers a huge indemnity. The Chinese government agreements 
was forced to treat with foreigners and to allow them a to keep the 
much larger share than before in Chinese trade and tact, 
commercial development. If there was danger that China 
might be broken up, it was prevented by the prompt 
action and skillful diplomacy of John Hay, our Secre- 
tary of State, who secured, from Great Britain and other 
Powers, promises to respect the territorial integrity of 
the country. 

390. Reform, Revolution, and the Republic. — Twice Reforms, 
within six years China had been humiliated. She was actua J a ^ d 

^ promised. 

beginning to learn the lesson that her old period of se- 
clusion and isolation had passed, and that, in self-defense, 
she must introduce political and social reforms. In the 
years following the suppression of the Boxer revolt, 
she began to create schools similar to those used by the 
western nations. Universities were established in which 
modern sciences and other occidental subjects were 
taught. The army was reorganized to some extent, al- 

1 "No mercy will be shown ! No prisoners will be taken ! As the Huns 
under King At'ti-la made a name for themselves, which is still mighty 
in traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in 
China by your deeds that no Chinese would ever dare even to look at a 
German askance . . . Open the way for kultur once for all." 
2l 



514 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Establish- 
ment of a 
republic. 



Problems 
and failures 
of the 
republic. 



Dangers 
from 
Japanese 
aggressions. 



though western models were not followed closely. In 
1907 the reformers obtained the right to hold provincial 
assemblies, and soon after the Chinese government 
promised to grant a constitution. A parliament was to 
be elected and a constitution introduced in 1917. The 
times were ripe for far more rapid changes than the 
government expected. In 1911 an apparently unimpor- 
tant revolt in south China spread like wildfire throughout 
the country. On the next to the last day of that year 
Dr. Sun-Yatsen, a Christian Chinaman, who had been 
educated in the United States, was elected provisional 
president of a Chinese republic by a convention of the 
reformers ; and, about six weeks later, the Manchu 
emperor, a child of six years, was forced to resign and to 

flee from the country. The 
rule of the Manchus was over. 
Three days later, a national 
assembly chose Yuan' Shih- 
kai to the presidency. Then 
the assembly proceeded to 
make a constitution for the 
Republic of China. 

The history of the republic 
was almost as stormy as that 
of the empire during its last 
years. Yuan Shih-kai quar- 
reled with his parliament, 
dissolved it, and proceeded to rule with the help of an 
administrative council. In fact Yuan tried to reestablish 
a monarchy but failed. Since his death in 1916 China 
has not developed any strong men, and she certainly 
needs vigorous leadership. 

391. Chinese Problems. — When the Great War broke 
out, Japan joined Great Britain and Russia against Ger- 
many, and immediately proceeded to reduce the German 




© Underwood and Underwood 
Yuan Shih-kai 



CHINA 515 

fortifications about Kiao-chau (§ 443). She was ex- 
pected to return this territory to China, but temporarily 
she has occupied much of the Shan-tung peninsula. If 
possible the Japanese would make for themselves a 
" Monroe Doctrine " which would leave to the peoples of 
the Occident small share in the direction of the affairs of 
China and in fact the whole " Far East." In 1915 certain 
demands were made upon the Chinese government. As 
finally agreed upon, these were eleven in number, few of 
which were important. 

Because of her immense natural wealth, her huge Why 
area, and her weak, unstable government, the future proble ^ is 
of China constitutes one of the world's serious problems, one for the 
If the Chinese cannot furnish the capital necessary to po^ rs to 
develop the resources of the country, and if they can- solve 
not maintain order over so many hundreds of millions, it 
will be necessary for outsiders to come in and develop 
China and maintain order. Otherwise the foreign Powers 
must agree upon some plan by which the territorial integ- 
rity of China shall be maintained and stable government 
shall be established. 

Japan 

392. Land and People. — The islands of Japan proper General 
comprise an area somewhat similar to that of our state cha racter 
of California. In her crescent shape and in other re- Japanese 
spects, also, Japan is not unlike California. Only fifteen km g d °m. 
per cent of her land is arable, and, as her population 
is somewhat greater than that of Great Britain, and 
her industries are even yet quite undeveloped, the 
people are forced to work hard for long hours in order 
to maintain even their low standard of living. The 
island kingdom has some mineral resources, but not 
enough to turn it into a rival of the commercial nations 
of Europe or America. However, in the twentieth cen- 



516 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

tury the enormous supply of unskilled labor undoubtedly 
Will give Japan advantage over those countries whose 
labor supply is limited and whose industrial workers 
maintain higher standards of living. 
Japanese The Japanese are short and brown. No people since 

isticTand" ^he G ree ks have excelled them in strength and physical 
standards, development. Their minds are alert, and they are 
anxious to learn western ways and better methods. 
They are ambitious personally, and, as a race, they are 
determined that Japan shall have her full share of terri- 
torial influence and power. The Japanese are among 
the most courteous of all races, but many of their stand- 
ards, even among those who have come in contact with 
Europeans, are radically different from those of western 
nations. 
Feudal 393. Old Japan. — '■ Modern Japan is only a little more 

character of than a half century old. Before that time the emperor, 
old Japan, or mi-ka'do, whose person is considered sacred, lived in 
seclusion, and was held in reverence as a deity by his 
people. Although he was practically absolute, he took 
no part in the government himself. His authority was 
exercised, not only directly but actually, by a minister 
called the sho'gun. Many people outside of Japan 
thought that the shogun was the emperor. For cen- 
turies the land of Japan had been held by a group of 
feudal nobles, dai'mi-os, who were like the feudal lords 
of Europe in the Middle Ages. They controlled the 
government of their own areas, held the people in prac- 
tical bondage, and exercised considerable influence in 
the general government of the country. Their retainers, 
the sa'mu-rai, were a hereditary class of warriors. No one 
could wear a sword unless he belonged to a samurai 
family or class. The common people were divided into 
two groups. The first included the farmers, the ar- 
tisans, and the traders. The last of these had compara- 



JAPAN 



517 



tively few rights and inferior social standing. Below 
them were two classes that were practically outcasts. 

Old Japan was conservative, but even in the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries it had some dealings with 
white men, especially the Portuguese and the Dutch. 
The opening up of Japan was largely the work of Ameri- 
cans. In 1854 Admiral Perry, the hero of the Battle 
of Lake Erie, persuaded the Japanese to make a treaty 
of friendship and amity in order to care for American 
sailors, shipwrecked in Japan, and provide supplies for 
American ships. Soon after, similar concessions were 
made by Japan to other countries. About the time that 
our Civil War broke out, the Japanese began to fear and 
attack Europeans, but, after several years of conflict, 
they were overawed by the black vessels and powerful 
guns of the white man's fleets. Soon they signed treaties 
which allowed Europeans to trade in Japan and gave the 
consuls from Europe or America the right to try all 
cases where a white person and a Japanese had a 
dispute. 

394. The Westernization of Japan. — The Japanese 
leaders realized that if Japan could not keep out the west- 
erners, the next best thing was to adopt the civilization 
of the Occident. This was made infinitely easier be- 
cause the new mikado, Mut-su-hi'to, who succeeded his 
father in 1867, voluntarily came out of his retirement 
and created a court after the European model in the new 
capital of To'ky-o. The shogun was forced to resign. 
Most of the feudal nobles voluntarily gave up the old rights 
and privileges, which would be of comparatively little 
value under the new order of things. The nobles and the 
samurai that tried to keep their old ancient advantages 
were very easily overpowered by the new government, 
and by the army of soldiers levied according to western 
methods. 



Opening up 
of Japan 
(1854- 
1867). 



Marvel- 
ously rapid 
transforma- 
tion of the 
old political 
order. 



518 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Introduc- 
tion of 
western 
methods 
and institu- 
tions. 



Nature of 
the consti- 
tution and 
parliament. 




The government was reorganized soon after these 
epoch-making changes took place, and a navy as well as 
an army of the new type was begun. In 1871 the first 
newspaper was started. Telegraph lines and railroads 

were inaugurated, and 
a post-office introduced 
western methods. In 
1875 Japan adopted 
the European calendar. 
Throughout the country 
schools were started be- 
cause the Japanese 
planned and hoped to 
give every child some 
education. In 1884 the 
study of English was 
introduced into the 
courses in most of the 
public schools. Middle 
schools were organized in most towns, and secondary 
or high schools in many localities. In a few of the larger 
cities there were universities whose courses were modeled 
after the best to be found in Europe or America. Codes 
of laws and courts for the trial of civil and criminal cases 
were created, in some cases copied after European models. 
In 1889 the emperor gave Japan a constitution which 
had been made by Count Ito, unquestionably the great 
statesman of that period. The mikado retained almost 
absolute authority, but he exercised this through a chan- 
cellor and heads of executive departments. To help him 
he created a parliament made up of two houses. The 
members of the upper house were selected by the emperor 
from distinguished men of the realm, or from the nobles 
of different provinces. The members of the lower house 
were elected for terms of not more than seven years by 



The Mikado Mutsuhito 



JAPAN 519 

Japanese men over 25 who paid a fairly large tax. We 
must not imagine that the parliament governs Japan ; it 
is rather an advisory body. If the government of Japan 
can be compared with that of any other western nations, 
it may be said to be somewhat like that of Germany. 

395. Economic Progress. — The westernization of Partial but 
Japan has not been chiefly political, for the Japanese are ^sTriai m " 
alert business men and keen traders. Since they have deveiop- 
such a vast supply of cheap labor, it is possible for them ment - 

to specialize on industries which require a great number 
of workers ; we therefore find that the Japanese excel 
in work requiring a large amount of hand labor, either 
skilleoj or unskilled. To some extent they have, how- 
ever, introduced western methods of manufacture, and 
large factories are already to be found in the cities and 
in some other industrial districts. 

Japanese trade with the outside world has been en- Exports and 
couraged, and has therefore grown rapidly. Agricul- lmports - 
tural products such as tea and rice are exported in large 
quantities, particularly to the United States. Raw 
silk and silk manufactures are among the most important 
exports. Japan imports large quantities of iron and 
steel, raw cotton, machinery, and petroleum. 

396. Wars and Expansion. — As stated above, Japan Interna- 
ls a small country with a great many people. Her desire prance "of 
to control colonies and exploit the neighboring peninsula the Chino- 
of Korea brought Japan in 1894 into conflict with China. JJ^Qgg^ 
Japan's easy victory created for her a new respect among 

the western nations. Within less than five years all of 
the great Powers, including the United States, had agreed 
to new treaties which allowed her to make her own tariffs 
without outside interference, and allowed Japanese 
courts to try all cases involving foreigners in Japan. 

Since Russia and Germany left Japan none of the spoils 
of her war with China (§ 389), she secretly made vast 



520 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Russo- 
Japanese 
war (1904- 
1905). 



preparations to regain control of the Liao-tung peninsula, 
in Manchuria, and if possible Korea. When the Rus- 
sians failed to take their troops out of Korea and Man- 
churia, Japan in 1904 suddenly made war upon the 
Russians. Her troops advanced through Korea, cooped 
up the Russian forces in Port Arthur, which was captured 
after a severe siege, and drove the larger Russian armies 
northward. The Russians tried to stop the little brown 




Shipping Beans. Port of Dalny 



men at the Liao-yang' river in southern Manchuria, but 
they were badly defeated. The Japanese, reenforced, 
pushed on, and at the beginning of March, 1905, fought 
the Battle of Muk-den' which lasted several days and ended 
in a Russian disaster. In the meantime, one Russian 
fleet was destroyed by the Japanese navy, and soon after 
a second fleet which had been sent from Europe was 
practically annihilated. Since the Japanese were short 



JAPAN 



521 



of money, and the Russians were practically demoralized, 
both physically and economically, President Roose- 
velt's offer was accepted and peace was made at Ports- 
mouth, New Hampshire, in 1905. Russia agreed to 
keep out of Korea, transferred to Japan her lease upon 
Port Arthur, and the Liao-tung peninsula (§ 389), and 
gave her the southern half of the Russian island which 




TO 

.Egl=AtlN) 



is just north of Japan. Japanese special interests in 
Korea aroused some antagonism in the hermit kingdom, 
which objected to having its seclusion ended. In 1906, 
Count Ito, on an embassy to that country, was assas- 
sinated by a Korean. This gave Japan excuse for further 
exploitation of the kingdom, and by 1910 Korea had prac- 
tically been annexed to Japan. 

Even before the Russo-Japanese war, Japan, fearing the 



522 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Alliances 
between 
Great Brit- 
ain and 
Japan. 

Significance 
of expan- 
sion. 



Japan and 
the future 
of the 
western 
Pacific. 



China in 
relation to 
the Euro- 
pean world. 



aggressions of Russia in the Far East, and Great Britain, 
afraid of Russian encroachments north of India ( § 383) , made 
an alliance to protect their mutual interests in Asia. In 1905 
and again in 1911 this alliance was renewed and strengthened. 

397. Japan as a World Power. — The Japanese are a 
very ambitious people. They believe that they are the 
greatest nation of the Far East, and that it is their destiny 
to rule the western Pacific. Since they have not been 
defeated by any of their enemies in war, and since they 
have alliances with some of the greatest Powers of Europe, 
they see no reason why they should not be allowed to 
carry out their program. By the acquisition of Formosa at 
the end of the war with China, by gaining half of the 
island immediately north, after the conflict with Russia, they 
have begun the acquisition of a western Pacific empire. By 
the acquisition of Russian rights on the Liao-tung peninsula 
and by the occupation of Korea, they have made a beginning 
of a land empire on the continent of Asia. 

What the future policy of Japan may be in relation to 
the other Powers, in relation to China (§ 391), or in 
relation to world politics of the Far East, we do not 
know ; we do know that Japan has not only become 
westernized, but that in the further Europeanization of 
the Far East, Japan will be an important factor. 

398. Summary. — The Chinese are racially and in some 
other ways a nation. They occupy a country with two 
very fine river valleys, and with immensely valuable mineral 
deposits. China is the oldest and the most conserva- 
tive country in the world to-day. Following the guid- 
ance of Confucius, the Chinese reverence ancestors and 
dislike change. For nearly three centuries, until 1911, 
they were controlled by the Manchus, but otherwise they 
kept away from outsiders. About 1840 the English 
gained Hong Kong, and several occidental countries 
secured commercial concessions. In 1894 China fought 



JAPAN 523 

and lost a war with Japan. Almost immediately Ger- 
many, Russia, France, and England gained spheres of 
influence and new important concessions. This aroused 
the Chinese, but the Boxer revolt was suppressed by the 
allied Powers, and China was forced to introduce western 
methods ; then voluntarily she reformed her schools, her 
army, and her government. In 1911 the Chinese expelled 
the Manchus, established a republic, and tried to maintain 
a parliament. In 1915 she made concessions to Japan. 

Japan is a small country, for the whole of the Japanese The Euro- 
Empire is only about sixty per cent larger than our state of Japan 011 
of Texas. The people are athletic, ambitious, and anx- 
ious to get ahead. Until a half a century ago, they 
knew- little and cared less about western ways, for they 
were still in the feudal period of their development. 
After Admiral Perry visited them in 1854, other western 
peoples made demands which the Japanese were forced 
to grant. About 1870, an abrupt transition occurred from 
the old order to the new. The shogun was forced to resign, 
the feudal system was broken up, and the warrior class 
was deprived of its old rights. The mikado personally 
took charge of the government, later granting a constitu- 
tion. After the Russo-Japanese war Japan gained the 
lower part of the Liao-tung peninsula at once, and Korea 
some years later. Because she has powerful allies, a large 
supply of labor which is rapidly developing her resources 
and industries, the beginnings of both an insular and a 
continental empire, and a desire to dominate the western 
Pacific, Japan must be regarded as one of the world's 
great Powers. 

General References 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Europe, II, 560-599. 
Herrick, History of Commerce and Industry, 422-456. 
Douglas, Europe and the Far East. 
Cambridge Modern History, XI, 802-865, XII, 500-601. 



524 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics of the Far East. 

Foster, American Diplomacy in the Orient. 

Smith, Chinese Characteristics. 

Latourette, The Development of China. 

Longford, Japan of the Japanese. 

Reinch, Intellectual and Political Currents in the Far East. 

McLaren, A Political History of Japan (1867-1912). 

Porter, The Full Recognition of Japan. 

Topics 

The Opening up of Japan : Hornbeck, Contemporary Poli- 
tics of the Far East, 105-115 ; Douglas, Europe and the Far East, 
144-168 ; Foster, American Diplomacy in the Orient, 170-198. 

The Revolution in China : Hornbeck, Contemporary Poli- 
tics of the Far East, 3-17; Annals of American Academy, 39 
(1912), 1-38. 

Studies 

1. Caleb Gushing and our first treaty with China. Foster, 
American Diplomacy in the Orient, 79-93. 

2. The grapple with the opium evil. Ross, The Changing 
Chinese, 139-173. 

3. The scramble for concessions. Hornbeck, Contemporary 
Politics of the Far East, 223-230. 

4. The reform movement. Annals of American Academy, 
39 (1912), 18-25. 

5. Trying to organize a republic. Hornbeck, Contemporary 
Politics of the Far East, 38-47. 

6. Products and industries of China and Japan. Smith, 
Commerce and Industry, 441-459. 

7. Industrial future of China. Ross, The Changing Chinese, 
112-138. 

8. Japan's attempt to control China. Hornbeck, Con- 
temporary Politics of the Far East, 301-332. 

9. The reform movement in Japan a half century ago. 
Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics of the Far East, 113-122. 

10. Ito and Japan's Constitution. McLaren, A Political 
History of Japan {1867-1912), 133-152. 

11. Japan's Monroe Doctrine. Hornbeck, Contemporary 
Politics of the Far East, 344-359. 

12. Japanese education. Porter, The Full Recognition of 
Japan, 153-195. 



THE FAR EAST 525 

Questions 

1. Name the outlying areas which, with China proper, make 
up Greater China. Point out on a map the Yangtse and 
Hwang Ho rivers. On a map locate Korea, the Liao-tung 
peninsula, Kiao-chau, Peking, Nanking, Hankow, and Hong 
Kong. 

2. Name those characteristics which you would consider 
particularly Chinese. Why did the Chinese keep out foreigners 
before 1840 ? Why did they not do it after 1840 ? 

3. Trace foreign aggressions upon China, showing what each 
of the Powers secured, and explaining why the scramble for 
territory practically ceased after 1900. 

4. Explain the nature of the reforms, political, military, or 
economic, introduced in the first decade of the twentieth cen- 
tury. Give the experience of the republic in dealing with its 
own people, and with the Japanese. 

5. Explain the location and characteristics of Japan and the 
Japanese. What do you mean by the mikado, the shogun, 
the daimios, and the samurai? 

6. How did Admiral Perry begin the westernization of Japan ? 
How was the feudal system in Japan brought to an end ? What 
were some of the reforms or changes by which the country was 
westernized? How is the Japanese constitution and parlia- 
ment different from our Constitution and Congress? 

7. Trace the history of Japanese territorial expansion, giv- 
ing details of the war with Russia. What has Japan gained from 
her alliances with Great Britain and other Powers? What 
part has economic development played in the rise of Japan? 
For what reasons may we consider Japan a world power ? 



Place of 
Africa in 
modern 
history. 



Geographi- 
cal charac- 
teristics of 
the conti- 
nent. 



African 
history be- 
tween 1400 
and 1825. 



CHAPTER XX 

AFRICA AND THE NEAR EAST 

Africa before 1885 

399. The Dark Continent. — From the historical point 
of view, Africa is the least important of the continents of 
the eastern hemisphere, but since 1870 and particularly 
since 1885, it has come into world prominence, chiefly 
as the area within which the great European Powers 
have striven for spheres of influence, protectorates, and 
colonies. In this new struggle for colonial empires, we 
find again, as in the case of America during the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries, the opening up of the country 
by missionaries and explorers, the extensive use of 
chartered companies, the seizure of the mouths of im- 
portant rivers and of commercial harbors, and the ex- 
ploitation of the natives and economic resources of the 
country. 

The continent of Africa, connected with Asia by a 
stretch of sand at its northeastern corner, covers more 
than eleven and a half million square miles and has a 
population estimated at nearly one hundred fifty million. 
It contains the world's greatest desert region, the southern 
part of which is called the Sudan and the northern the 
Sahara. There is an unusual number of large rivers, the 
Nile, the Niger, the Congo, the Zam-be'zi, and the Orange. 

At the beginning of modern times, trade with north- 
eastern Africa was developed by the Portuguese, one of 
whose navigators, Vasco daGama, finally rounded the Cape 

526 



AFRICA BEFORE 1885 



527 




nineteenth 
century 
explorers. 
Living- 
stone. 



of Good Hope and made his way to India. From west 
Africa there was developed an extensive trade in slaves 
during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth cen- 
turies. In the early nineteenth century both England and 
America undertook to put an end to this nefarious traffic. 

400. Exploration. — The opening up of Africa was Early 
the work of almost innumerable missionaries, scientists 
and explorers, most of 
whom gave their lives 
to the spread of Euro- 
pean civilization in the 
Dark Continent. There 
was some exploration 
before the nineteenth 
century, but the real 
work of bringing to 
Europe knowledge of 
the rivers and lakes of 
Africa began about a 
century ago. English 
explorers sought to 
penetrate the mysteries 
of the Niger region, 

without very great success. Explorers of different na- 
tionalities started from the Mediterranean coast and 
worked their way across the great desert to Tim-buk'tu 
on the upper Niger and to Lake Chad in the heart of 
the Sudan. Baker, Grant, and others explored the 
upper waters of the Nile river, but by far the greatest 
of the nineteenth century explorers before Stanley was 
the Scotchman David Livingstone. Starting as a mis- 
sionary, Livingstone devoted most of his life to explora- 
tion. He covered the Zambezi basin from end to end, he 
crossed Rhodesia to the Orange river, and he discovered 
or visited the southern group of mid-African lakes. 



David Livingstone 



528 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Later ex- 
plorers and 
govern- 
ment 
agents. 



Methods 
and work 
of different 
groups. 



/ 




V 



In 1871 James Gordon Bennett, proprietor of the 
" New York Herald," detailed Henry M. Stanley to "find 
Livingstone." In this search Stanley was successful; his 
report on how he found Livingstone advertised the re- 
sources of Central Africa and had a direct effect on the 
international struggle for control of territory on that 
■-- x continent. Afterwards, Stanley 

went back, and in a remarkable 
trip followed the Congo to the 
sea. Later travelers, like the 
Frenchman, deBrazza (brad'za), 
were more than simply explorers. 
They were advance agents of 
expansion and exploitation. 
Sometimes they were scientists 
who made a study of fauna 
and flora, but usually they 
were government agents or 
business men with an eye to 
profitable trade. 
401. Motives and Methods. — The Europeans made 
treaties with native chiefs by which each chief placed him- 
self under the protection of the government with whom 
the treaty was made. Many times government agents 
hurried through the country, purchasing, by a few trinkets 
and high-sounding promises, the signatures of the tribal 
leaders. In general few real concessions were made to the 
native chieftains in return for the rights obtained by the 
European countries. Some of the agents interested them- 
selves in Christianizing and to a slight extent civilizing the 
native peoples, but in spite of the heroic self-sacrificing 
work of volunteer missionaries, it must be admitted that 
the Europeans were far more interested in exploiting the 
natives and the resources of the continent than in carry- 
ing to the people the benefits of European civilization. 



Henry M. Stanley 



PARTITION OF AFRICA 529 

Ever since the days when the Portuguese began to Economic 
penetrate the interior of Africa for the ivory, gold, palm f ams +h 
oil, fruits, and other products of that continent, there exploitation 
had been trade between the coast and the interior. The of Afnca - 
foreign commerce is to a very large extent with Europe ; 
and most of the trade of each colony is with its own 
mother country. 

The Partition of Africa 

402. Extent of Partition. — In 1870, as shown in the European 
small map opposite page 530, Europeans had little more Jg^ 1168 in 
than a foothold on a few coasts of Africa. Besides 

the old Portuguese factories and spheres of influence 
only three of these areas were important. These were 
the French possessions in Algeria in the north, the French 
colony of Sen-e-gaV in the west, and Cape Colony belonging 
to Great Britain. Of course there were the two little 
Boer states (§ 374) in the upper Orange river basin. 

By 1914 practically the whole of Africa had been divided Extent and 
into colonies, protectorates, or spheres of influence. About l ^ ts of n 
two thirds of the continent was controlled by France or coioniza- 
Great Britain, the other third was under the supervision tlonin1914 - 
of Germany, Belgium, Italy, or Portugal. The limits of 
the areas controlled by the different countries were rather 
definite, because, after 1890 international agreements 
were made between the countries, which stated the 
boundaries of their respective territories. If we exclude 
Egypt, which was to all intents and purposes a British 
protectorate, Abyssinia and Liberia were the only in- 
dependent countries on the continent. 

403. Portuguese, Belgian, and German Colonies. — Portuguese 
If Africa had been divided into European dependencies colomes - 
in the sixteenth century, Portugal would have had the 

chief share, but in 1914 she had only two large colonies. 
To be sure these gave her absolute control of the lower 
2 m 



530 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Leopold II 
of Belgium 
and the 
Congo Free 
State. 



German 
colonies in 
Africa in 
1914. 



Italian 
colonies in 
east 
Africa. 



waters of the Zambezi river and one shore of the mouth 
of the Congo. 

The first European country to interest itself in the 
modern work of opening up Africa for purposes of trade 
was Belgium, whose king Leopold II called in Brussels 
in 1876 the first international conference for the purpose 
of exploring and civilizing the Congo region. In 1885 
this great area was organized under international protec- 
tion as the Congo Free State. Leopold found it was 
necessary to expend immense sums from his own private 
fortune in order to develop trade in rubber and ivory, but 
he reaped his reward by securing for himself huge personal 
estates in the Congo region and controlling a large part 
of the profitable trade from that region. There were com- 
plaints that the blacks were ill treated, but the most 
serious of these evils were remedied, and in 1908 the 
Congo Free State was reorganized as a Belgian colony. 

As already noted (§ 297), Bismarck had not been ex- 
ceedingly favorable to German expansion and coloniza- 
tion, but he was not willing to leave without .support 
pioneer German traders, scientists, and explorers in 
Africa. Following the initiative taken by these Germans 
as individuals, trading companies were organized, which 
looked after German interests. As her share Germany 
secured German East Africa, German Southwest Africa, 
the Kamerun (§ 405), and Togoland. 

404. Italian Possessions. — Italy began to look across 
the Mediterranean for colonies soon after she had 
unified the Italian peninsula (§§ 237-240). As we shall 
notice (§418), she was disappointed. Later, the Italians 
acquired two colonies near the south end of the Red Sea. 
From these they wished to press into the interior, but the 
Abyssinians were a fairly well-organized race of people 
and resisted Italian advance with both vigor and success. 
The Italians did not give up the effort, however, until 




400 GOO 800 1000 
British ] \ French ] I German ] I Italic 
Portuguese \ | Belgian ] \ Spanish ] [ 



PARTITION OF AFRICA 531 

the Abyssinians defeated and almost destroyed their 
army. 

Italy was of course much more interested in northern Conquest of 
Africa than in the east coast. Her friendship "with Tripoli and 

L Cyrenaica. 

France, broken by French occupation of Tunis (§ 418), 
was restored when in 1901 Delcasse promised the friend- 
ship and neutrality of France in case Italy should seek 
to acquire Tripoli. In 1911 the Italians followed up 
their attempts to acquire interests in Tripoli by making 
war upon Turkey. As Italy's navy was superior to that 
of Turkey, and the Turks could not send adequate re- 
lief, the Italians acquired both Tripoli and Cyrenaica, 
which were organized as the colony of Libya. This war 
may have had some influence upon the Balkan wars 
(§414), which were the forerunners of the great Euro- 
pean conflict that broke out in 1914. 

405. The French in Northern Africa. — The second Conquest of 
European colony in Africa was that of France in Algeria. A1 g ena - 
In 1827 the dey or ruler of Algeria struck the French 
consul in the face with a fly fan. For three years the 
insult went unavenged ; then French troops were trans- 
ferred to Algeria and a long slow process of subjugation 
was begun. The task was completed in a rather thorough 
manner, however, and long before there was law or order 
in any other part of Barbary Africa, Algeria had become 
peaceful and prosperous. A large number of French 
settlers went there, and an immense amount of money was 
invested in the country. 

In 1882, with the approval of Bismarck, France ex- Tunis. The 
tended her sway over the disorderly tribes of Tunis, p El J??^ te M 
which borders Algeria on the east. French occupation 
brought to this country something of the prosperity 
which it had to Algeria. The French expanded not 
only to the east, but also to the west, attracted by the 
wealth of Morocco. French investors, as well as those 



532 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The French 
in Morocco. 



of Great Britain and later of Germany, formed commercial 
companies and sought to exploit the wealth of that country. 
In 1904, in return for recognition of paramount British 
interests in Egypt, Great Britain agreed to leave France 
a free hand in Morocco. Germany, fearing for the 
safety of her interests and investments, but far more 
concerned with possible interference with her plans for 
expansion (§ 300), protested and sought to uphold the 




The Water Front, Algiers 

sultan and other Moroccan chiefs against the French. 
The result was the Al-ge-ci'ras conference (§ 426), an im- 
portant event in world history. 

Since the Algeciras conference gave the French, with 
the negligible aid of the Spaniards, the right to main- 
tain order in Morocco, and to control her banking affairs, 
it was only a short time before the French army was used 
to put down revolts. Very quickly, therefore, the French 
had excuse for controlling the most important affairs 
of the country. In 1911 another crisis arose when 
Germany dispatched a gunboat, the Panther, to 






PARTITION OF AFRICA 533 

Agadir Bay. This crisis was averted when France 
transferred to Germany a large amount of territory on 
the Congo, which was added to Kamerun (§ 427). 
France was then allowed to establish a protectorate over 
practically all Morocco. 

406. The African Empire of France. — Besides this Extent of 
exceedingly valuable strip of coast, including Tunis, mid " Af y ican 

° J ^ ' o 7 possessions. 

Algeria, and Morocco, the French have a vast area ex- 
tending from the southern border of these countries to 
the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea on the one side 
and to the great branches of the Congo river on the other. 
The acquisition of this huge area has taken place 
within the last quarter century and reminds us in some 
respects of French expansion in the Great Lakes region 
and in the Mississippi basin in the last part of the seven- 
teenth and first part of the eighteenth century (§ 85). 

In 1894 the French reached Timbuktu, and spread Conquest of 
eastward into the Sudan beyond Lake Chad. One of the mterior - 
their commanders, Captain Marchand, even penetrated 
the Egyptian Sudan with the idea that the French empire 
might be extended to the Nile river. He was at Fashoda 
with his small band of followers when Kitchener, hearing 
of his arrival, warned the French to leave the Nile basin. 
The next year, largely through the influence of Delcasse, 
the Egyptian Sudan was left to the English, and the right 
of France to north central Africa was admitted by Great 
Britain. 

The Near East before 1880 

407. The Ottoman Turks in Europe and in Asia. — Spread of 
The Ottoman Turks first appeared as a small tribe in 0ttoman 
Asia Minor in the early part of the fourteenth century. 

They conquered most of the peninsula, and in 1361 they 
captured Adrianople and began a conquest of the Balkan 
region. In 1453 they entered Constantinople after a 



534 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Loss of ter- 
ritories in 
Africa and 
in Europe 
before 1774. 



Organiza- 
tion of 
first autono- 
mous Bal- 
kan states. 



long siege, and put an end to the old Byzantine empire. 
Within the next century they extended their sway south- 
ward through Syria and Palestine and then westward 
into Egypt and the Barbary states in northern Africa. 
Mesopotamia and the Tigris-Euphrates valley with the 
old Mohammedan capital, Bag-dad', was brought under 
their rule soon after. In the meantime they were grad- 
ually pressing northward and westward, and by the 
seventeenth century they had conquered most of Hungary, 
the area north of the Black Sea, and the Caucasus region. 

We have already noticed how the sultan lost all his 
possessions in northern Africa to the French (§ 405), 
the Italians (§ 404), and the British (§ 377). Turkey in 
Asia was maintained practically intact before the out- 
break of the Great War. In Europe the Turks have 
been losing their lands gradually since the seventeenth 
century. 1 

In the early years of the nineteenth century, there was 
discontent among the Mon-te-ne'grins, Serbs, Al-ba'- 
ni-ans, and Greeks. Greek independence (§ 176) was 
gained largely through the intervention of the Euro- 
pean Powers, the most influential of which was Russia. 
The treaty which made Greece independent also gave 
self-government to the Ru-ma'ni-an provinces, under 
a Russian protectorate. The next year (1830) Serbia, 
which had long been in revolt, was allowed to organize 
self-government . 

408. The Sick Man of Europe. — We can see from this 
brief survey that the European dominions of Turkey 



1 By the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 the Austrians wrested from the 
Turks practically all of Hungary. Russia did not drive the Turks back 
and gain a foothold on the Black Sea until the time of Catherine the Great 
(§ 64). By the Treaty of 1774 the ruler of Russia, as the head of the 
Russian church, gained the right to aid those Christians who also be- 
longed to the Greek Catholic Church but were living under Turkish rule, 
and to interfere in behalf of Rumania. 



NEAR EAST BEFORE 1880 



535 



were taken from her either by the Christian nations Misrule, 
of Europe or by her own subject Christian peoples, f^sorder 
This was natural, because in 1830 the Christians out- in Turkey. 




Turkish Imperial Palace 

numbered the Mohammedans of European Turkey at 
least five to one. 1 Among the Christian subjects of the 

1 The Turks were fierce warriors, but their rulers, being unable to 
conquer new territories, lived lives of ease and indolence. The empire 
was honeycombed with corruption, for each Turkish official from the 
prime minister (Grand Vi-zier') down to the local policeman paid for his 
position and used it to gain wealth as well as influence for himself. In 
general, however, the Turkish rule was liberal if not enlightened. That 
is, the Turks did not interfere with the religion of most of the subject 
peoples, provided there was profit in the trade of those races. This was 
not true of the Armenians, who are Christians and who inhabit the 
plateau region south of the Caucasus and the Black Sea. These people 
have been exposed repeatedly to raids of the fierce Kurds, whose mas- 
sacres of Christian Armenians have aroused Europe again and again. 
In spite of the protests made by the Powers to the Porte, no real relief 
has ever been granted, because, even if the slaughter has stopped at the 
time, fresh massacres and atrocities occurred again at comparatively 
short intervals. 



536 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Russia and 
England on 
the question 
of the "sick 
man." 



Events in 
the Crimea. 



Turks there was oppression, heavy taxation, and conse- 
quently discontent. When the Turks ceased to make 
war, it was inevitable that trouble should be caused by 
their Christian subjects, especially those in the Balkan 
region, 1 who were born fighters. 

Russia naturally hoped to get control of the Black 
Sea and particularly of its outlet. In order to do the 
latter she must have both Constantinople and the Dar- 
danelles. Soon after 1850 Tsar Nicholas I had an informal 
talk with the British minister, a conversation which was 
destined to become famous. He said : " We have on 
our hands a sick man, a very sick man ; it will be, I tell 
you frankly, a great misfortune if one of these days he 
should slip away from us, especially before all necessary 
arrangements were made." Because Russia was so 
anxious to hasten the demise of the sick man, England 
immediately prepared to bolster up the dying Turkish 
rule, which she believed possessed considerable vitality. 

409. The Crimean War. — In 1854 Russia made war 
on Turkey, but Great Britain, France, 2 and Sardinia 
aided the Turks. The war was fought almost exclu- 
sively within the peninsula between the Black Sea and 
the Sea of Asof which is known in history as the Cri-me'a. 
The Allies sought to capture and destroy the great for- 
tress of Se-bas'to-pol, which was not only an arsenal, but 
was the base of military and particularly naval operations 
for the Russians on the Black Sea. 3 The siege itself 

1 Particularly in Montenegro and Albania. 

2 The excuse was found in the desire of the French emperor, Napo- 
leon III, as the protector of the Latin monks in the church of the holy 
sepulcher at Jerusalem to quarrel with the tsar, who was in a somewhat 
similar sense protector of the Greek Catholic monks of the same city. 

3 The war was concerned chiefly with the capture of this fortress in a 
siege which lasted eleven months. The weather was intensely severe 
and the troops were not furnished with proper clothing or food. More 
soldiers died of cold and disease than from wounds. During this siege 
Florence Nightingale organized a group of nurses — one of the first 



NEAR EAST BEFORE 1880 537 

was not very brilliantly conducted, but it was marked by 
such events as the battle of Ba-la-kla'va, which has been 
immortalized by Alfred Tennyson in his poem, " The 
Charge of the Light Brigade." 

By the famous Treaty of Paris (1856), the Russians The Treaty 
lost comparatively little territory except that at the mouth °g^. ans ' 
of the Danube river. The river itself was " internation- 
alized," that is, made free from its source to its mouth. 
Thereafter, the Turks were allowed to attend the confer- 
ences of the Powers which dealt with questions of the Near 
East. The Congress of 1856 also adopted resolutions 
which prohibited privateering and aimed to protect 
neutrals on the sea in time of war. 

410. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877 and the Treaty The 
of Berlin. — In 1875 and 1876 Europe was aroused to Bulgarian 
the need of reforming Turkish rule ; throughout all the and changes 
northwestern dominions of the sultan there was unrest ln Turke y- 
and serious disorder. In suppressing the Bulgarians, 
the Turkish troops were guilty of unusual cruelty and 
atrocities. In one community of less than ten thousand 
more than half of the inhabitants were murdered with 
all the refinements of civilized barbarity. Great Brit- 
ain was intensely indignant. Gladstone wrote a scath- 
ing pamphlet denouncing the Bulgarian atrocities of the 
" unspeakable Turk." Conditions in the Ottoman empire 
were so bad that the sultan was deposed. His successor 
reigned only a short time, and was succeeded by Ab-dul 
Ha-mid' II, an able and crafty ruler. 

Under pretext of protecting the Christian peoples of War be- 
the Balkans, Russia in 1877 declared war on Turkey. * ween 
The chief event of the war was the siege of the fortress Turkey, 
of Plev'na in Bulgaria, which was surrendered with its 
garrison of forty thousand men. A second Turkish army 

attempts to have a civilian organization for the protection of the health 
of troops at the front. 



538 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



was defeated and captured by the Russians. Within nine 
months from the outbreak of the war, Russian troops 
were advancing on the defenses of Constantinople. 

Russia's victories enabled her to dictate a peace, the 
Treaty of San Ste' fa-no, exceedingly favorable to her and 
very humiliating to Turkey. 1 Austria and Great Britain 
were greatly alarmed at this extension of Russian terri- 
tory and influence in the Near East. As a result of their 



' ■: tr ./.:«?;- ■:■£&'■■■■ 




The Congress of Berlin 



protest a conference of the Powers was called at Berlin 
(1878) and a new peace, the Treaty of Berlin, was made. 
The result was of course a serious check to Russia's am- 
bitious plans. The independence of Rumania, Serbia, and 
Montenegro was recognized, but Bulgaria was reduced 
to about one third of the proposed area, although another 
third, known as eastern Ru-me'li-a, was separately or- 

1 The sultan recognized the independence of Rumania, Serbia, and 
Montenegro. Most of the Balkan area from the Danube river to the 
JSgean Sea was to be erected into a self-governing principality, known as 
Bulgaria, which should of course be under Russian influence. (See map 
opposite page 544.) The treaty provided for a huge war indemnity to 
Russia and some further extension of Russian territories. 



NEAR EAST BEFORE 1880 539 

ganized under the suzerainty of the sultan. Russia was 
not allowed to levy a war indemnity, nor was she per- 
mitted to keep as much territory as she had planned. In 
order to counterbalance the gains of Russia, Austria 
was allowed to occupy and administer Bosnia and Her-ze- 
go-vi'na, and Great Britain was permitted to occupy the 
Island of Cyprus, opposite the Suez Canal. By the treaty 
of Berlin, the life of the " sick man " was prolonged, and 
the " Eastern Question " became a far more serious 
international problem than at any previous time. 

The Near East in Recent Years 

411. Greece, Bulgaria, and Rumania. — The history Problems of 

of Greece since she gained her independence ninety boundanes 
° .1 anc * g° vern " 

years ago has not been one of remarkable prosperity, ment in 

Until the recent Balkan wars (§ 414) left her with greatly Greece - 

extended boundaries, the Powers had never been willing 

to give her more than a small part of the area occupied 

by the Greek peoples. 1 Greece has had a constitution ; 

under her later rulers she has been more prosperous and 

united. 2 At the outbreak of the Great War, Greece 

refused to take part on either side, although most of the 

people, under the leadership of the able patriot Venizelos, 

wished to have her join the Entente Powers. After 

1917, she was nominally if not actively associated with 

the Allies that were warring against Germany. 

Bulgaria and Rumania cover wide fertile valleys and Bulgarian 

extensive plains, in addition to mountain regions. Bui- geography, 

garia, being closest to Constantinople, was the last Balkan and politi- 

country to become half-free. By the Treaty of Berlin, caL 

1 Not until 1912 did she even gain the Island of Crete which had al- 
ways been closely associated with Greece (E. E. C, §§ 22, 23, 123). 

2 Since 1863 Greece has been ruled by kings who are descended from 
the royal House of Denmark. The sister of the German Kaiser, Wil- 
liam II, was queen of Greece from 1913-1917. 



540 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Bulgaria 
and her 
neighbors. 



Rumania. 



Racial am- 
bitions of 
the Ru- 
manians. 



she gained self-government, and in 1885 the Bulgarians 
defied the Turks and annexed eastern Rumelia. 

Bulgaria, which was intended to be a Russian vassal 
state, did not remain long under Russian influence, be- 
cause of the greed of the Russians. As the Balkan country 
which was most likely to gain control of Constantinople, 
her friendship was desired and encouraged by both 
Austria and Germany. Bulgaria did not come into the 
Great War at the very beginning, but, as soon as the 
time was ripe for the troops of the Central Empires to 
overrun Serbia, she joined those Powers in the conquest of 
the ill-fated Serbs. 

Rumania is the largest and most prosperous of the 
Christian countries of the Near East. She is made up 
of two districts, Wal-la'chi-a and Mol-da'vi-a. Rumania's 
independence was acknowledged by the Treaty of Berlin, 
Her fertile valleys are coveted by other countries because 
of her position at the mouth of the Danube and because 
of her valuable wheat fields and large supplies of minerals 
and mineral oils. In spite of her resources, however, 
the Rumanians have been and still are in a rather poverty- 
stricken condition. 

The Rumanians are a mixed race, 1 and claim to include 
not only the people of Rumania proper but a large share 
of those in Transylvania, across the Carpathian moun- 
tains in Hungary, in Bukowina (boo-ko-vi'na) in Austria, 
and in Bes-sa-ra'bi-a in southern Russia. The desire of 
the Rumanians to unite all these people was one reason 
why she held aloof at first from an active part in the 
Great War. ' 

412. Serbia and the Jugo-Slavs. — The area north- 
east of Greece, west of Bulgaria, and south of Hungary 



1 They claim they are chiefly descended from the Roman colonists 
who were established in the province of Dacia by Trajan (E. E. C, 
§ 392) , but they are probably to a still greater extent Slavs. 



NEAR EAST IN RECENT YEARS 541 

proper is occupied by the Jugo-Slavs. Most of these The king- 
people are Serbs, more than half of whom have now been g OI ?- of 
organized under the kingdom of Serbia. The Serbs 
were allowed some self-government as early as 1830 
(§ 407), but Serbia was not organized as a kingdom until 
1878. Besides their desire to extend their boundaries 
to include other Serbs, they needed a seaport on the 
Adriatic Sea. Serbia has had the misfortune of internal 
dissensions between two ruling houses. 

There are several problems to be worked out before it is Racial 
possible to unite all of the Jugo-Slavs. First of all there p°Jj tlc ^» 
are several different groups of peoples. There are the gious prob- 
Serbs themselves, the Montenegrins and the Serbs in Al- lems * 
bania, Bosnia, and other areas. In the second place 
there are the Ser'bo-Cro'ats of southern Hungary and the 
Slo-venes' of southwestern Austria. As can be seen, a 
second racial problem is due to the fact that these peoples 
are under a number of different and distinct governments. 
Still a third problem arises from the fact that the Jugo- 
Slavs are adherents of three distinct churches. The 
Serbs themselves and some other Jugo-Slavs are ortho- 
dox, that is, members of the Greek Catholic Church. 
Most of the others are Roman Catholics, but nearly a 
million are Mohammedans. Whether it will be possible 
to unite these ten or more millions of scattered peoples, 
whose history for centuries has carried them different 
ways, only the future can determine. The Serbians have , 
been anxious to expand Serbia until it includes most of 
these groups. The Serbo-Croats, on the contrary, have 
desired a union of these races of which they should be 
the foundation. One of the problems to be worked out 
after the Great War will be the future of the Jugo-Slavs. 

413. Revolution and Reform in Turkey. — In the late German in- 
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Turkish enter- fluence in 

Turkey. 

prises were financed at first chiefly by British and French 



542 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

investors and later by the Germans. As early as 1898 
Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Constantinople and went on 
to Damascus. At a banquet in his honor he declared : 
" Say to the three hundred million Moslems of the world 
that I am their friend." From this trip of the kaiser, 
in a sense, dates Germany's interest in improving the 
Turkish army, her increasing investments in Asiatic 
Turkey, concessions to her for the building of railways 
in Asia Minor controlled by German capitalists, espe- 
cially the Bagdad railway, and German support for a 
program of Pan-Is'lam-ism. In the twentieth century a 
railway from the head of the Persian Gulf or from the 
east shores of the Red Sea across Asia Minor, the Balkans, 
and Austria would of course give the Germans by far the 
quickest and most direct route from Central Europe to 
the Near East and the Indian Ocean. The possession 
of a network of railways, one terminus of which would be 
" within twelve hours of Egypt," and another terminus 
" within four days - of Bombay," would leave Germany 
opportunity to strike some of the most important de- 
pendencies of the British Empire in Northern Africa and 
in India. If Turkey were made a subject state depend- 
ent on Germany, it would give the Germans a real em- 
pire, stretching clear across the two continents, Europe 
and Asia, from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf, an 
imperial domain which would have threatened the eco- 
nomic prosperity and the political stability of all 
other great Powers. By 1914 the railway had been 
completed almost to the Euphrates river. 
Young In 1876 a constitution was granted to Turkey by Abdul 

Turk revo- p[ am id, but it was wholly suspended in 1878. In many 

lutions, 7 "* r . . 

1908-1909. Christian parts of the Ottoman Empire, lor example, 
Bulgaria, Mac-e-do'ni-a, and Ar-me'ni-a, misrule was 
continuous and massacres were intermittent. A well- 
organized group, known as the " Young Turks," secretly 



NEAR EAST IN RECENT YEARS 



543 



fomented revolt until a favorable time arrived in 1908. In 
July of that year, at Saloniki, the " Young Turks " pro- 
claimed a constitution. As they had practically complete 
control of the army, resistance was useless, and Abdul 
Hamid accepted the constitution and followed out his 
favorite policy of promising reforms. The Turkish revo- 
lution of 1908 gave Austria-Hungary opportunity to annex 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, which she had " occupied " since 




Saloniki and the Harbor from the Hill 



the Treaty of Berlin. It gave Ferdinand of Bulgaria ex- 
cuse to assert the absolute independence of his country 
and to assume the title of tsar. Small indemnities were 
later paid to Turkey for these losses. In a second revo- 
lution, in 1909, the " Young Turks " forced Abdul Hamid 
to abdicate. 

The rule of the " Young Turks " did not prosper because 



544 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Failures of 
the "Young 
Turks." 



The Balkan 
Alliance 
and begin- 
ning of First 
Balkan 
War. 



Events of 
the First 
Balkan 
War. 



Second 
Balkan 
War and 
Treaty of 
Bucharest, 
1913. 



they were unable to maintain order in many parts of the 
empire. Moreover, their attempt to " nationalize " their 
dominions, that is, to take away special rights and privi- 
leges of the subject peoples in the empire, aroused against 
them the anger of millions of their subjects and of the 
people of the Balkans. 

414. The Balkan Wars. — The policies of the " Young 
Turks " were so offensive to the Balkan races that 
in the spring of 1912 four of them joined in a Balkan 
Alliance against Turkey. We will recall that at that 
time Turkey was in the midst of war with Italy in which 
she lost Tripoli (§ 279). Just as peace was being made 
with the Italians, the Balkan states declared war on the 
Ottoman Empire. The European Powers first, tried to 
prevent war and then insisted that under no circum- 
stances should any territory be taken away from Turkey. 

The Bulgarians advanced southward and defeated the 
Turks in two great battles. Leaving an army of Bul- 
garians and Serbs to besiege Ad-ri-a-no'ple, they then ad- 
vanced southward to the fortifications of Constantinople. 
The Serbs occupied the Turkish territory immediately 
south of Serbia, and Du-raz'zo on the Adriatic. The Greeks 
besieged some of the iEgean islands and Saloniki in 
Macedonia. 

As a result of this First Balkan War 1 Turkey was 
restricted to a small area around Constantinople, Bul- 
garia increased her territory greatly to the ^Egean, and 
the other Balkan allies gained some slight, if unsatis- 
factory, additions. There was great discontent because 
Bulgaria had obtained more than the others, and the 
Greeks and Serbians refused to give up the territories they 
held. Bulgaria immediately made war on Greece and 
Serbia, which were joined by Turkey and Rumania. 
The result of this Second Balkan War, settled by the 

1 Treaty of London, 1913. 



NEAR EAST IN RECENT YEARS 545 

Treaty of Bu-cha-rest' , was the transfer, by Bulgaria, to 
Turkey of Adrianople and the surrounding territory, to 
Rumania of a small strip east of the Danube, to Serbia 
of a considerable area in northern Macedonia, and to 
Greece of Saloniki and territory on the iEgean. 

The result of these Balkan wars was unrest and con- Menace of 
sequently danger to the peace of Europe. Bulgaria was g^^^to 
disappointed at her losses. Serbia was disgusted to be European 
shut off from a much desired commercial outlet to the P eace - 
Adriatic. The kingdom of Albania, created in the western 
Balkan area by the Powers, refused to be ruled by the 
king selected for it ; and the Albanians quickly drove him 
out of the country. We can see that conditions were ripe 
for further trouble in southeastern Europe. 

415. Summary. — In the last half century, Africa Africa be- 
has again become important in the history of the world. fore 1885 " 
Numerous were the men who visited northern or north- 
western African river valleys, but nevertheless, the opening 
up of Africa was largely the work of David Livingstone 
and Henry M. Stanley. Following their explorations, mer- 
chants penetrated the interior after gold, ivory, or other 
products, and government agents " signed up" native chiefs 
and established protectorates for their home country. 

The Dark Continent, almost unknown a half century The parti 
ago, was by 1914 wholly divided up among the Great tx °* of 

xVJ[inc£i« 

Powers. The largest area went to France, the most 
important coasts and river valleys to Great Britain. 
Germany had established four colonies. Portugal re- 
tained her foothold in three important areas, Belgium 
had acquired the lower Congo region, and Italy had 
seized the huge area of Tripoli, besides smaller territories. 
The French colonial empire started with Algeria on the 
Mediterranean coast, and Senegal on the Atlantic. In 
the north it extended over Tunis and finally over Morocco, 
and into the interior as %r as the Congo. 
2n 



546 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

The Near In 1453 the Ottoman Turks gained Constantinople. 

1880 bef ° re Their sway they extended to the northwest, to the north- 
east, to the southeast, and west in northern Africa as 
far as Morocco. Beginning in 1699, the decline set in, 
and by 1800 they had lost most of their territory north 
of the Balkans and the Black Sea. In the early part of the 
nineteenth century, the Greeks gained their independence. 
The Rumanian provinces and Serbia became self-govern- 
ing. Montenegro was recognized as independent still 
earlier. Turkish rule was corrupt, incompetent, and 
in other ways unsatisfactory. Russia desired but failed 
to get Constantinople in either the Crimean War (1854- 
1856) or the Russo-Turkish war (1877-1878), for by the 
Treaty of Berlin (1878) Russia was compelled to give 
up her gains, Austria occupied Bosnia, and Great Britain 
took Cyprus. 

The Near The Balkan area has been noted for its unrest and 

East in disorder ; it finally disturbed the peace of Europe. It is 

rGCGntJ 

years. inhabited not only by Mohammedans (Turks), but by 

numerous Christian peoples, each of which wants all 
the land it can get, and would like to control affairs of 
the Near East. , Greece, the oldest of these states, has 
been independent less than a century. The Jugo-Slavs, 
including the Serbs, occupy a large and rather indefinite 
region, extending from Greece, north to Hungary proper, 
and from the Adriatic Sea halfway to the Black Sea. 
South and north of the Danube in its lower courses are 
Bulgaria, ambitious to control the whole Balkan area, 
and Rumania, whose people are anxious to create a greater 
Rumania. In 1908, a nationalist movement of the 
" Young Turks " gained control of the Turkish govern- 
ment, and made it possible for Austria to annex Bosnia. 
The " Young Turks " did not get along well with the 
subject Christian peoples, and in 1912 the states north 
of European Turkey formed the Balkan Alliance. The 



AFRICA AXD NEAR EAST 547 

allies were successful in the First Balkan War, and Turkey 
was almost driven out of Europe, but Bulgaria demanded 
more than her share of territory, and a Second Balkan 
War followed. By the Treaty of Bucharest, Serbia and 
Greece gained at the expense of Bulgaria. In 1913 the 
Balkan situation was serious for the world at large. 

General References 

Hazen, Modern European History, 507-514, 540-557, 590-607. 
Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 
490-539, 614-639. 

Johnston. The Colonization of Africa. 
Harris. I titer rent ion and Colonization in Africa. 
Gibbons, The New Map of Africa {1900-19 16). 
Rose, Development of the European Nations, I, 184—343, II, 
22S-298. 

Miller, The Ottoman Empire, ISO 1-1 9 13. 
Forbes, et al., The Balkans. 
Sloane, The Balkans, A Laboratory of History. 
Schurman. The Balkan Wars. 

Topics 

The French Colonial Empire in Africa : Harris, Inter- 
vention and Colonization in Africa, 108-130; Johnston, The 
Colonization of Africa, 122-145; Gibbons, The Xew Map of 
Africa, 312-354. 

Serbia : Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814, 657- 
664 ; Larned, History for Ready Reference, in Vols. IV, VI, and 
VII; Forbes. The Balkans. 79-162. 

The Balkan Wars : Hayes, Political and Social History of 
Modern Europe, II, 528-539; Hazen, Modem European History, 
590-607; American Year Book (1913), 94-106, 146-149; 
Seymour, Diplomatic Background of the War, 221-244. 

Studies 

1. African exploration a century ago. Johnston, The 
Colonization of Africa, 194—204. 

2. The Belgians in the Congo. Gibbons, The Xew Map of 
Africa, 147-172. 



548 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

3. The French in Algeria and Tunis. Gibbons, The New 
Map of Africa, 130-146. 

4. Decline of the Ottoman Empire before 1815. Hayes, 
Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 490-498. 

5. The Crimean War. Innes, England and the British 
Empire, IV, 251-266. 

6. The Treaty of San Stefano. Miller, The Ottoman Empire, 
382-386. 

7. The Jugo-Slav movement. Kerner, in The Russian 
Revolution — The Jugo-Slav Movement, 81-95. 

8. Bulgaria from 1878 to 1908. Forbes, The Balkans, 54-64. 

9. The "Young Turk" movement. Hayes, Political and 
Social History of Modern Europe, II, 524-527. 

10. The Armenians and the Adana massacres. Gibbons, 
The New Map of Europe, 187-194. 

Questions 

1. Explain the geography of Africa, giving some idea of its 
climate, rivers, products, and natural resources. What part 
did northern Africa play in the early history of the human race 
(E. E. C, §§ 22-24, 40), and in the early historic period (E. E. C, 
§§ 42-50, 67, 308, 312) ? In later times how did the rule of the 
Saracens and of the Ottoman Turks in northern Africa affect the 
people of Europe? 

2. In the opening of Africa, what part was played by the 
following : Prince Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama, the 
slave trade, trade in gold and ivory, explorers in northwestern 
Africa, David Livingstone, and Henry M. Stanley? 

3. To what extent had Europeans made any progress in 
the real partition of Africa by 1870? (See small map, page 530.) 
Give a summary of the colonies and protectorates of the different 
European countries in 1914. Explain why the Congo Free State 
was changed into a Belgian colony. Show the importance of 
commerce in the acquisition of German colonies. What diffi- 
culties did Italy have in gaining her present possessions? 

4. Why was Algeria the first important European colony 
in northern or central Africa? Explain how and why French 
influence extended over Tunis and Morocco as well. To what 
extent did the French penetrate the interior ? 

5. Explain the extent of expansion of the Ottoman Empire 
before 1683. What was the nature of Turkish rule : in general ; 



AFRICA AND NEAR EAST 549 

among the Christians of European Turkey; among the Arme- 
nians ; and in northern Africa ? Trace the decline of Turkey from 
1699 to 1850, giving causes of decline and naming the most 
important territories lost. 

6. What has been the importance of Constantinople in 
European history during the last hundred years? Why was 
Turkey called the "sick man" of Europe? Explain causes, 
main events, results, and importance of the Crimean War. 
What were the Bulgarian atrocities in 1876 ? What was the im- 
portance of the Treaty of Berlin, and the "Eastern Question" in 
European politics ? 

7. Trace the history of Greece since her independence was 
established (§ 176). Why do the Serb peoples look back upon 
a greater Serbia, and look forward to a pan-Serbian union? 
What peoples belong to the Jugo-Slavs? Where and under 
what governments have they been living? 

8. What was the "Young Turk" movement, and what 
changes did it make in Turkish government? What was the 
Balkan Alliance? What countries were involved in the First 
Balkan War, and what was the attitude of the concert of Powers ? 
Why did the Treaty of London give Bulgaria the lion's share of 
the spoils? Why was there a Second Balkan War, and which 
countries were in that conflict ? What were the provisions of the 
Treaty of Bucharest, and why was that treaty a defeat for Ger- 
many? Explain why the Balkan situation in 1913 was likely to 
lead to a general war. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE GREAT ALLIANCES AND INTERNATIONAL 
CONFLICTS 



General 

character 

of early 

German 

foreign 

policy. 



Lack of 
natural 
boundaries 
but numer- 
ous power- 
ful neigh- 
bors. 



The Triple Alliance and German World Politics 

416. Bismarck's Aggressive International Policy. — As 

we have seen (§§ 243-247, 252-254) in 1871 Bismarck was 
able, through a policy of " blood and iron," to create a 
consolidated German Empire. This was a Prussianized 
Germany which did not include Austria or many out- 
lying districts of the old Holy Roman Empire (§ 160). 
The first aim of Bismarck's international policy was 
to gain the friendship of powerful neighboring coun- 
tries, his second to use against any possible enemy 
of Germany- the policy of " blood and iron" which 
had been so useful to him. He and his successors 
wanted to create a larger Germany, controlling or, if 
desirable, including most or all of the territory of the 
old Holy Roman Empire. 

Bismarck believed that his problem was difficult. In 
the first place, Germany has no definite natural bound- 
aries. In the second place, Germany was almost com- 
pletely surrounded by powerful countries, two of which 
she had recently defeated. It would have been the most 
natural thing in the world for both France and Austria 
to wish revenge for the humiliations suffered in the wars 
with Prussia. 

As soon as the German Empire had been created, the 
Iron Chancellor set to work to establish friendly rela- 

550 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 551 

tions between the German Empire on the one hand, and How Bis- 

Austria and Russia. 1 In 1872 and in succeeding years ^friend?* 

he entertained Francis Joseph II and Alexander II in terms with 

Berlin. Affairs of state undoubtedly were talked over, h . oth L . , 

J ' Austria and 

and policies were blocked out for the advantage of the Russia. 

three empires. This " League of Three Emperors " 

was in no sense an alliance, but it gave Bismarck friends 

at a time when he wished to devote his whole attention 

to the internal policies of Germany (§ 294). 

417. Alliance of Germany and Austria. — For nearly Desire of 

a thousand years before 1866 the name Germany had ? lsmarck 
J m f for com- 

included an area from the North Sea to the Adriatic. It bination of 

was natural, therefore, that Bismarck should desire a Austria and 

7 ; j Germany. 

union of the new Germany and Austria, provided that 
the union was controlled by Prussia. After a few years, 
he found, however, that if he were friendly with Austria, 
he would arouse the hostility of Russia. The reason 
for this is simple. Austria believed that her power 
should be extended to the southeast at the expense of 
Slavic peoples that Russia wished to have under her 
own protection. The real break between Germany and 
Russia, therefore, grew out of the Near Eastern Question 
which Bismarck declared was " not worth the bones of 
a Pom-e-ra'ni-an grenadier." 

In the Treaty of Berlin (§ 410), Bismarck maintained Germany 
that he occupied the position of an " honest broker," ^^^ 
in other words, that he did not take sides and played Russia, 
fair with all parties. But as Austria, in return for her 
neutrality during the war, was allowed to " occupy " 
the two Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
whereas Russia, in spite of her numerous victories, 

1 Bismarck was able to keep on friendly terms with Russia, partly 
because he had given her moral support at the time of the latest Polish 
Revolt in 1863 (§ 313), and partly because Wilhelm I and his nephew, 
Tsar Alexander II of Russia, were good friends. 



552 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Terms of 
the Alli- 
ance of 
1879 against 
Russia. 



Desire of 
Bismarck 
to add Italy 
to Alliance. 



received practically nothing for herself, and the newly 
created Slavic Balkan state of Bulgaria was reduced 
greatly in size, Russia did not forgive Bismarck and 
Germany. 

At the Treaty of Berlin the way was paved for an 
alliance between Germany and Austria in 1879. How 
greatly Bismarck feared Russia is shown by the terms of 
the alliance. The two countries agreed that if either 
were attacked by Russia, they would aid each other 
in every way possible and that one would not conclude 
peace without the consent of the other. 

418. Completion of the Triple Alliance. — In order to 
extend this Alliance and to consolidate all central Europe 
against any possible enemy, Bismarck prepared to in- 




clude Italy in this new grouping of nations. As the 
relations of Italy had been quite cordial with France, 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 553 

except for a short period, and, for a half century, Italy 
had looked upon Austria as her natural and therefore her 
greatest enemy, Bismarck did not find this an easy 
task. However, Italy had always been friendly with 
Prussia and was grateful to Prussia for helping her to 
obtain Venetia (§ 246). With characteristic Bismarck- 
ian craft, the Iron Chancellor suggested to France that, 
as she held Algeria, it might be a good plan to establish 
a protectorate over Tunis, just east of Algeria. The 
French followed this suggestion (§ 405). 

Italy was greatly offended at this action of the French, Formation 
since she was already beginning to look greedily across triple Alli- 
the Mediterranean and considered Tunis the most de- ance in 
sirable area that was accessible, first, because it included 1882 ' 
the site of Rome's ancient rival, Carthage, secondly, 
because of its nearness to Italy, and thirdly, because there 
were many more Italians than Frenchmen in Tunis. 
In their excitement, the Italians ignored their ancient 
enmity against Austria, and did exactly what Bismarck 
hoped, that is, they accepted an alliance with Germany 
and Austria (1882). This Triple Alliance was a purely 
defensive organization, as far as Italy was concerned, for 
she was to join her allies in making war only in case some 
other Power was the aggressor. In this way did Bis- 
marck create the first great group of nations which was, 
ostensibly, to preserve the peace of Europe, but which 
really kept that peace only so long as it was satisfactory 
to Germany. 

419. Pan-Germanism and Further Expansion. — The Contrast 
underlying idea of the alliance with Austria was unques- ]^ tween 
tionably the union of all German peoples, the dominance intema- 
of German authority in Europe, and the extension of tlonal 
German power and influence. Bismarck was satisfied that of 
to consolidate all interests within the German Empire Wullam IL 
and to make certain Germany's prestige in Europe. 



554 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



German 
world 
politics in 
the West- 
ern Hemi- 
sphere. 






For that reason he was opposed to plans for a colonial 
empire and was an unwilling convert to the acquisition 
of German colonies during his chancellorship. With 
the accession of William II, however, and the dismissal 
of Bismarck, Germany's imperialistic plans began to 

develop rapidly. 
In the last years 
of the nineteenth 
century, the Ger- 
mans began to 
formulate their 
ideas of Pan-Ger- 
manism. While 
the term is indefi- 
nite, it may be 
said to mean a 
union of all Ger- 
man peoples, and 
a world policy, 
which included the 
acquisition of col- 
onies (§ 298), the 
building of a pow- 
erful navy, the development of trade (§§ 300, 472), 
political control of adjacent countries and their colonies 
(§ 300), and of an area southeast to the Persian Gulf 
(§ 413), and the domination of the world (§ 420). 

We must not imagine that German plans and schemes 
have left the American continents untouched. In 
southern Brazil there are a number of states inhabited 
chiefly by Germans, and special attention has been given 
by Germany to her South American trade. Soon after 
the opening of the twentieth century, Germany desired 
and would have acquired, but for the Monroe Doctrine, 
special interests in Venezuela, close to the Panama Canal. 




Antwerp and the Scheldt 



GERMAN WORLD POLITICS 555 

Nor has the North American continent been neglected. 
We need only recall the fact that, before there was 
serious thought of war in the United States, Germany- 
tried to intrigue with Mexico and Japan (§ 446) against 
the United States, whose government up to that time had 
been friendly to her. 

420. German World Politics and the World. — The Means and 
belief of the German people that they have the best P ur P° ses of 

^ r J German 

civilization of the world, that they are far more intellec- world 
tual and efficient than any other people, that they have P° llcy - 
a mission to perform in forcing their civilization upon 
others and bringing white peoples under their control and 
domination : these are the heart of kultur and of German 
Welt-politik (world politics). It can be seen from these 
statements why most of Germany's neighbors feared, 
if they did not respect, her authority. When we add to 
this the use of state authority everywhere and in all ways 
to aid her in controlling the world's business (§ 472), 
the diabolically efficient spy system which stops at no 
means to carry out the schemes of the Fatherland, the 
plots to stir up the subject peoples of her rival's colonies 
so that they would revolt, the preaching of holy wars 
among the Mohammedans (§ 435), and the use of Ger- 
man gold to buy what they could not otherwise obtain 
directly or honestly ; we can see why most of Europe 
became banded against the plans of the German leaders. 
Since the Germans were not satisfied with German pri- Opposition 
macy in continental Europe and her rapidly expanding ° f other 
trade and influence, they demanded a better position 
and a finer opportunity, to which Germany referred as 
her " place in the sun." The antagonism of her near 
neighbors was naturally aroused more fully than before, 
because, even while Germany occupied her old place 
in the sun, there was cast in their faces the sinister 
shadow of a million spiked steel helmets. It was not 



556 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



until that shadow, spreading with the years, at length 
reached across America to the Pacific, that the American 
people awoke to the menace of Germany's program for 
world domination. 



Effect of 
German 
policy 
toward 
France on 
France, 
England, 
and Russia. 



Recupera- 
tion of 
France and 
the crisis 
of 1875. 



The Dual Alliance and the Ententes 

421. The Relations of France with Germany. — Ger- 
many's attempt to humiliate and isolate France after 
1870 naturally aroused in France hatred toward her new 
domineering neighbor. The forcible transfer of Alsace- 
Lorraine, against the wishes of France and of the prov- 
inces themselves, however necessary it might have 
seemed to Bismarck for the future protection of the 
German Empire, was a serious blunder because it created 
in France a demand for revenge which did not grow less 
with the passing years. Moreover, Germany's policy 
toward France influenced Great Britain and Russia, 
because neither of these powers was willing that France 
should be weakened further. 

On her part France was taking all necessary pre- 
cautions by thoroughly reorganizing her military forces 
and providing that most of her young men should have 
five years in the active army. In addition, she began 
the construction of a chain of powerful forts along her 
eastern border, of which those around Ver-dun' formed 
the center and key. These measures were intended purely 
for defense, but they naturally aroused intense hostility 
of the Prussian war party, which desired excuse to hu- 
miliate France anew. 1 In the spring of 1875 Germany 
seemed to be mobilizing her forces for a new war. The 

1 With amazement and disgust, this war party witnessed the ex- 
traordinarily rapid payment of the immense war indemnity which they 
had forced upon France in 1871. As it was too late to make this in- 
demnity larger, the war party sought for reasonable excuse to invade 
France again and crush her, this time if possible completely. 



THE DUAL ALLIANCE 557 • 

French diplomats were on the alert, however, and sent 
appeals for help to the courts at London and Petrograd. 
Immediately the English and Russian governments 
asked Bismarck what Germany was planning to do and 
urged him to maintain peace at all hazards. This inter- 
ference on the part of Great Britain and Russia halted 
any possible preparations of Germany for conflict. 

422. Formation of the Dual Alliance. — During the France 
chancellorship of Bismarck it was impossible for France takes , Ger ~ 
and Russia to get together, although Russia was much place in 
chagrined that she gained nothing at the Treaty of ^^cfhi 
Berlin (§ 410), and Alexander III (1881-1895) was not and finance. 
friendly to Germany. With the death of William I in 
1888, Germany and Russia began to drift farther and 
farther apart, and, before Bismarck's retirement as 
chancellor in 1890, Russia arranged that the loans which 
she had borrowed from German bankers should be re- 
newed by bonds sold on the French stock exchange. 
These loans of the French capitalists and peasants to 
the Russian government continued in later years, and 
amounted before 1906 to a sum of nearly two and a half 
billion dollars (§ 271). These French loans enabled the 
Russian government to build state-owned railroads' and 
to carry on other improvements needed in that unde- 
veloped country (§317). They created a feeling of greater 
friendship than before for France. 

In the rivalry between France and either Prussia or The Dual 
Austria since the time of the Renaissance, France had f} l ^?^ e 
frequently looked to some eastern country as an ally. 
The fear which the Third French Republic entertained 
of Germany and the distrust which Russia was coming 
to have for that Power made an alliance at this time 
perfectly natural. In 1891 the French fleet was enter- 
tained enthusiastically at Kron-stadt', but before the 
Russian fleet could return this visit with a trip to 



558 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Tou-lon', 1 the French and Russian governments signed a 
secret treaty of alliance. By the terms of a later agree- 
ment each Power was to aid the other in case of attack. 
This Dual Alliance gave France the international friend 















.., 


r ' 




A ' • : • , .. \\ , " 








■"■■■■- ,. a" :: ■■;■'"' ' 










r f/~ 


^^"^^^ 















Naval Base, Toulon, Fbance 



and the men that she needed; it assured Russia a con- 
tinued supply of money, which she had lacked. 
Limitations 423. Delcasse and the " Entente Cordiale." — The Dual 
Alli h nc D Alliance tended to preserve the equilibrium on the Con- 
tinent, because against the Triple Alliance of Germany, 
Austria, and Italy it balanced the new alliance of Russia 

1 It is interesting to notice that soon after this alliance was made a 
Russian fleet visited the French harbor of Toulon, and Russian sailors, 
arm-in-arm with French jackies, strolled down the street singing the 
Marseillaise, the hymn of republican France, whose use was forbidden 
within the territories of the tsar of all the Russias. In fact, at Kronstadt, 
when in spite of the Russian law the French national hymn was played, 
even the tsar stood at salute. 



THE ENTENTES 



559 



and France. The new alliance, however, was in the 
nature of a " marriage of convenience," since after all 
the western republic and the eastern autocracy had little 
in common except the menace of Germany. Even be- 
fore the Russo-Japanese War proved that, from the 
military point of view, whoever leaned on Russia leaned 
on a broken reed, France began to realize that she must 
find help elsewhere, if possible. 

In 1898, as we noticed above (§ 406), France and Eng- 
land came into conflict at Fashoda because the colonies 
of France in north central 
Africa were expanding east- 
ward and Great Britain was 
extending her authority in 
Egypt southward into the 
Sudan. This was exactly 
what Bismarck had hoped 
and planned ; but the ulti- 
mate result was the opposite 
of what Bismarck had in- 
tended, partly because at 
this time the foreign affairs 
of France were controlled for 
a number of years by Theophile Delcasse. Delcasse, a 
keen, far-sighted statesman, realized better than any one 
else the grave danger to France in the ambitious and un- 
scrupulous plans of the German leaders. He therefore 
persuaded the French people to make concessions in the 
Egyptian Sudan, and from that time he worked incessantly 
to bring about a better understanding with Great Britain. 

So long as Queen Victoria lived, this was impossible, 
because she thought a great deal of her grandson, Emperor 
William II, and was not friendly toward the French. When 
Edward VII came to the throne, the case was quite the 
opposite, for Edward knew and loved the French people. 




Delcasse* 



French con- 
cessions 
after the 
Fashoda 
Affair 
(1898). 



Under- 
standing 
reached by 
the French 
and the 
English 
(1904). 



560 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Growing 
hostility of 
the English 
toward 
Germany. 




Edward Vil op England 



In 1904 the French and English governments reached an 
understanding in regard to a number of disputed prob- 
lems ; this is known as the "Entente Cor dialed By 
r -—^ far the most important 

questions which it settled 
were those in northern 
Africa (§377). The " En- 
tente Cordiale " was not 
an alliance, at least so far 
as any public admission 
was made before 1914, yet 
it gave both countries as- 
surance that in case of need 
they could depend upon 
the other. 

424. Attitude of England toward Germany and Russia 
before 1905. — The " Entente Cordiale " would have been 
impossible had there not been a growing sentiment in 
Great Britain against the aggressive naval and other 
policies of Germany, and also a fear on the part of England 
that Germany would seek to form against her a great 
alliance which might leave her as isolated as France had 
been after the Franco-German War. This fear of Ger- 
many had not existed in England in 1890 (§ 298). Since 
that time the Germans had opened the Kiel Canal, had 
fortified Helgoland more strongly than Gibraltar, and had 
created a great navy (§ 299). Beginning with the tele- 
gram of congratulation sent by the kaiser to Oom Paul 
Kruger on the failure of the Jameson Raid (§ 375), 
sentiment had been growing against Germany. Es- 
pecially did it develop after the death of Queen Victoria, 
because the English did not like the growing German 
trade overseas and feared that the German navy would 
become larger than that which England could keep for 
the protection of the British Isles. 



THE ENTENTES 



561 



Three years after the " Entente Cordiale " had been com- Change in 
pleted, England and Russia finally came together. This Q^ t gs of 
would have seemed natural, because one had an alliance Britain and 
with France and the other an understanding with that f' ussla 
country. SinCe the overthrow of Napoleon, however, other. 
Russia and Britain had had many conflicts over their 




Kiel Canal 

interests in the Near East. So long as England was in 
possession of Egypt, she felt bound to prevent Russian 
advance to the Mediterranean and was anxious that 
Russia should not control Constantinople. 1 In the late 
nineteenth century and early twentieth the two countries 
had some diplomatic controversies in central western 



1 To be sure, after England had acquired the Island of Cyprus in the 
Treaty of Berlin, that fear oppressed her less. 
2o 



562 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Change of 

British 

feeling 

toward 

Russia. 



Formation 
and impor- 
tance of the 
Triple En- 
tente. 



Asia, because Russia was expanding toward the northern 
borders of India and the Persian Gulf (§ 383) . 

425. The Triple Entente. — In the early years of the 
twentieth century two events brought England and 
Russia together. The first of these was the defeat of 
Russia in the Japanese War (§ 396). England then 
realized that she need not fear greatly the military achieve- 
ments of the Russian people. The second was the 
threatened completion of the Bagdad railway (§ 413). 
Unless something was done, Germany was likely to reach 
the coveted Persian Gulf before either England or Russia. 

In 1907, therefore, an understanding was reached by 
Russia and Great Britain which settled their disputes in 
the East, including Afghanistan, Tibet, and Persia. 
Persia was divided into three spheres of influence (§ 384). 
To all practical purposes an understanding had now been 
reached by the three Powers, France, Russia, and Great 
Britain. We call this understanding the Triple Entente. 
Against the Triple Alliance was now opposed a new 
group of nations which was organized to maintain the 
balance of power, and to keep peace in Europe, if possible. 
If Germany tried to dominate the Continent, or if German 
" Welt-politik " threatened to control the Old World, this 
entente might become an alliance. 



The kaiser 
makes 
trouble in 
Morocco. 



The Conflict of the Alliances (1905-1914) 

426. The Algeciras Affair (1905-1906). — During 
Bismarck's lifetime, Germany,, supported by the Triple 
Alliance, had had her own way in Europe. William II 
wanted even more power and wished to show that other 
countries must follow German leadership outside of Europe 
also. In 1905, three weeks after the decisive Russian 
defeat at Mukden (§ 396), the kaiser landed from his 
yacht at Tangier, in Morocco. In a speech which 
startled Europe, he addressed the sultan of Morocco 



CONFLICT OF THE ALLIANCES 563 

as an independent monarch and declared that Germany- 
would support her own merchants in Morocco in carrying 
on business in a free country. Undoubtedly he wished to 
protect German commerce in Morocco, but he was far 
more concerned with asserting and maintaining the 
prestige and political authorit} T of the German Empire. 
His declarations ignored France's obvious interests in 
Morocco and immediately called for explanations. The 
kaiser insisted that a general conference of the Powers 
should be held, at which the Moroccan question should 
be discussed thoroughly. Against the protests of Del- 
casse, who was forced to resign, a conference was called 
at Algeciras, almost under the shadow of Gibraltar. 1 

The calling of a conference was of course a great vie- The Aige- 
tory for Germany and her international prestige, but f ras con " 

i *i p i- • ference: 

the results of the conference were a disappointment results and 
to her. In the first place, although the conference lm P° r tance. 
gave all nations with interests in Morocco some share in 
the affairs of that country, nevertheless, Morocco was 
divided into a Spanish sphere covering about one fifth 
of the area and a French sphere covering the other four 
fifths. In addition, the police were brought under the 
control of French or Spanish officers and banking in- 
terests were to be controlled chiefly by France. The 
conference was really a defeat for the kaiser, chiefly because 
it united his enemies against him far more completely 
than ever before. On almost all important questions 
Germany and Austria were outvoted by the other 
members ; even Italy usually sided with the enemies of 
Germany. In numerous conversations between the 
English and Russian representatives the foundations 
were laid for the entente between their countries which 

1 Before the meeting was held France was able to secure but one 
concession, namely, that French paramount interests in Morocco should 
be recognized by the conference. 



564 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Mainte- 
nance of 
order by 
the French. 



The Agadir 

affair 

(1911). 



Incorpora- 
tion of 
Bosnia and 
Herzego- 
vina in the 
Dual Mon- 
archy 
(1908). 



occurred the next year (§ 425), and which we have just 
discussed. 

427. Settlement of the Moroccan Question, 1906- 
1911. — Since the Algeciras conference had practically 
imposed upon France an obligation to maintain order in 
Morocco, it was possible for her to land troops and to 
develop a well-disciplined though small force. In 1911 
the French army, in order to suppress a revolt, marched 
upon the inland capital, Fez ; the Germans made excuse 
that lives and property of their citizens in the seaports 
must be protected. 

A gunboat was dispatched to the port of Agadir for the 
purpose of protecting German prestige in Europe rather 
than her interests in Morocco. Not only did the French 
make preparations to mobilize their troops, but England 
informed Germany that in case of war she should support 
France. This policy of the two western powers was suffi- 
cient to decide the controversy. Germany agreed to a 
French protectorate in Morocco, and in exchange for the 
Moroccan interests that she claimed, she received lands in 
the Congo region. 1 It will be seen from the narrative of 
these comparatively insignificant events that Germany 
was determined to maintain outside of Europe the leader- 
ship and prestige which under Bismarck she had claimed 
and exercised on that Continent. 

428. The Bosnian Question (1908). — It will be re- 
called that, by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, Austria- 
Hungary gained, as a reward for her neutrality, the right 
to occupy and administer the Turkish provinces of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina. As these provinces were in- 
habited by Slavs, of the Serb race or closely related to 
the Serbs, this gave offense to the Serbians and was 
accepted with ill grace by Russia. Austria found that, 
although the acquisition of these provinces made trade 

1 Treaty of Nov. 4, 1911. 



CONFLICT OF THE ALLIANCES 565 

easier between the Adriatic and southern Hungary, it 
gave her continual trouble because the Bosnians did 
not take kindly to Austrian rule. As long as these prov- 
inces remained under Turkish sovereignty, Austria 
could not make her rule complete; but when the " Young 
Turk" party revolted in 1908 (§413), partly with the 
help of the Germans, Austria's opportunity came. She 
declared that Bosnia and Herzegovina no longer formed 
a protectorate under Austria's supervision, but were a 
real part of the Dual Monarchy. 

Serbia had hoped to include within her territories ineffectual 
not only Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also all southern o rc ¥ st 
Hungary (§ 412), which was inhabited by allied Slavic Turkey, 
peoples ; she protested vigorously against Austria's and Russia - 
violating her pledge made in the Treaty of Berlin and 
thus treating that important document as a " scrap of 
paper." In this protest she was backed up by Turkey, 
but the Turkish protest amounted to nothing because 
the new revolutionary government could not even main- 
tain its authority at home. Russia also objected, for she 
was exceedingly anxious to enlarge the Slavic Balkan 
states and, if possible, have all Slavic peoples brought 
under her own dominion or protection. The protest of 
Russia amounted to nothing, first, because the defeats 
of the Japanese War had absolutely demoralized her 
army, which in 1908 was only partly reorganized, and 
secondly, because the revolution of 1905-1906 had almost 
as completely demoralized the Russian government. If 
Russia had had to deal only with Austria, war would 
probably have followed, but when Germany took up the 
challenge of her ally, Austria, and the kaiser " donned 
his shining armor " and fiercely " shook the sword in 
its scabbard," the Russians accepted the inevitable, and 
yielded. Once more Germany's military prestige had 
been vindicated without a controversy. 



566 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Numerous 429. Balkan Interests of Austria and Russia. — The 

interests Bosnian crisis had emphasized, as nothing had done be- 
in the Near fore, the fact that the Balkan interests of Russia and 
Austria were diametrically opposed to each other. 
Since Austria had given up hope of leadership in Ger- 
many (§242), she turned her attention to affairs in the 
South and East. She wished first to round out her pos- 
sessions by securing complete control of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina. She desired a further extension of her 
territories or influence on the Adriatic Sea southward in 
order that she might control the entire eastern shore of 
the Adriatic, from Trieste to the Mediterranean. In 
any case she was determined that neither Serbia nor 
Montenegro, or any other country supported by Russia, 
should gain possession of any of this coast or of any 
of its seaports. Since the Danube is the great river of 
the Dual Monarchy and runs between or through Balkan 
states (some of which before 1914 were unfriendly to Aus- 
tria) and empties into the Black Sea, whose outlet through 
the Dardanelles is controlled by Turkey, Austria believed 
that it was necessary for her to keep the river open and 
to be on good terms with the Porte in order to protect 
her commerce. Moreover, she wished, first, to have 
a railway under Austrian control direct to the iEgean 
Sea, 1 secondly, to have German influence dominant in 
Constantinople, and thirdly, to establish her influence 
over as many of the Balkan states as possible. 

To the Pan-Germanic expansion desired by Austria 
and Germany, Russia opposed a Pan-Slavic movement. 
Russia's interests in the Near East were of three kinds, 
religious, racial, and geographical. They were religious 

1 Both she and Germany were anxious that they should control rail- 
ways to Constantinople and from that great city between the Dardanelles 
southeast across Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to the Persian Gulf 
(see § 413). 



CONFLICT OF THE ALLIANCES 567 

because the Russians were by far the greatest peoples of Religious 
the Greek Catholic Church, to which the Christians of an <* racial 

7 . . policies of 

the Balkan region belong. These Christians naturally Russia in 
look for leadership to Petrograd rather than to the ^ st Near 
patriarch of Constantinople. In the second place, 
Russia's interests in the Near East were and are racial, 
because at least three quarters of the peoples living in 
the Balkan states are Slavs, closely related in race to the 
Russians. Naturally, as well as for political reasons of 
her own, Russia has wished to be considered the protector 
of all Slavic peoples. In fact, she has wanted to bring 
all of them within her own rule or under her protection. 

In the third place, Russia's interests in the Near East Russian 
are geographical and economic. We have noticed more JvPhV a 
than once that, in spite of her great size, Russia has had nean outlet. 
practically no desirable seacoast, or coast that gives her 
direct contact with the outside world. At no time has 
Russia been able to extend her territory beyond the mouth 
of the Danube, owing largely to British influence in the 
nineteenth century and to that of Germany in the twen- 
tieth century. She has made little headway toward 
securing possession of the great gateway of southeastern 
Europe, Constantinople. To Russia the extension of 
German influence over Turkey has been a menace ; to 
her the spread of German dominion from the North Sea 
to the Persian Gulf (§ 300) would be a catastrophe. 

430. Approaching a Crisis. — The European situation Germany's 
in every year from 1911 to 1914 was fraught with danger. fheA^dir 
In 1911, at the time of the Agadir affair, Germany, affair 
France, and England were on the verge of war. That ^ l9 }]\ 
so distant and unimportant a problem as the Moroccan 
question should have created such a crisis shows that the 
alliances feared each other. Germany had been ac- 
customed to dictate what the other Powers should do. 
Her failure to force tier wishes on France angered her 



568 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



How peace 
was main- 
tained dur- 
ing the First 
Balkan 
War. 



Why the 
Balkan situ- 
ation was 
critical after 
1913. 



greatly and she was determined that the next time a 
quarrel arose between the alliances, she would be fully 
prepared; but in 1911 her financiers and her military 
leaders were not ready, so Germany and her allies did not 
fight France, England, and probably Russia. 

During the First Balkan War, the Central Powers did not 
make trouble because Bulgaria, which was friendly to them, 

gained most of the 
advantages, and the 
creation of the new 
kingdom of Albania 
shut off Serbia from 
the Adriatic Sea. 
But if the Central 
Empires were satis- 
fied, the Balkan 
peoples, with the ex- 
ception of the Bul- 
garians, were not. 

When the treaty 
of Bucharest at the 
end of the Second 
Balkan War created 
a new and larger 
Serbia, Austria was 
ready to make war 
on almost any pre- 
text. At the same time, the Serbians, elated by their 
expansion, began a new agitation for a still greater Serbia. 
If the Austrians and Serbians were able to settle their 
differences, all would be well. But if Austria threatened 
the independence of Serbia, the latter could count on the sup- 
port of Russia, and Germany was determined soon to show by 
akms if not by diplomacy that she dominated Europe. Ger- 
many would have preferred excuse for a direct quarrel 




Courtesy of " Punch " 



ALLIANCES AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT 569 

with France, but so long as she had one for attacking 
and, if possible, overpowering France, she would be 
satisfied. Germany had been preparing many years for 
any possible general conflict, and since 1911 her prepara- 
tions had been much more active. She had borrowed 
money on a large scale, hoping, if not intending, that she 
would win a great victory over her enemies and need not 
pay back these sums. In the fall of 1913, so confident 
was she a general war was at hand, and Germany would 
win, that the kaiser called together a group of big busi- 
ness men and, in return for their support, promised them 
lands and trade opportunities in British colonies — in 
Australia, in India, and in Canada. French and Russian 
statesmen had a slight idea of Germany's plans and 
schemes, but even they had no idea of the lengths to 
which Germany was prepared to go. 

431. Summary. — Germany's friendship with Austria The Triple 
was cemented in an alliance in 1879. When Italy was AU ""J ce 

J and German 

induced to join this, the Triple Alliance was organized, world 
which for several decades was dominant in European P olitlcs - 
affairs. With her huge army, her policy of " blood and 
iron," and her tradition of ancient greatness, German}-, 
after Bismarck retired, developed plans of pan-Ger- 
manism, to control middle Europe and an empire from the 
North Sea to the Persian Gulf, and to acquire possessions 
in Africa and the Americas. Her scheme of world poli- 
tics (§ 300) included industrial development, commer- 
cial expansion, a colonial empire, a huge navy and mer- 
chant marine, and political control of many countries. 
Her ambition, her unscrupulousness, her efficient spy 
system, her use of state authority to carry out her plans, 
and the menace of militarism, coupled with this ambitious 
scheme of world domination, aroused against Germany 
practically all Europe. 

France, overpowered in 1871, and threatened many 



570 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

The Dual times later, reorganized her army and constructed forts 
a^nd^hT on her eastern border. To protect herself better, in 
ententes. 1891 she formed with Russia the Dual Alliance, for which 
France furnished the money and Russia was to provide 
men. Since Russia was not a very dependable friend, 
the French foreign minister, Delcasse, and Edward VII 
of England in 1904 made for the two countries the " En- 
tente Cordiale," which settled their disputes in Egypt and 
Morocco and completed their friendship. England had 
already been aroused against Germany because of German 
aggressions, the development of the German navy, and 
other dangers. In 1907 Russia and England, fearing that 
Germany and her railroad to Bagdad would destroy their 
influence and menace their possessions in southwestern 
Asia, entered into an understanding, and thereby formed 
the Triple Entente. 
Conflict of After the " Entente Cordiale " was formed, Germany 
^alliances sought new opportunities to prove her prestige both in 
1914). Europe and outside. The kaiser tried to block France's 

control in Morocco, and insisted that Moroccan affairs 
should be decided in a European conference. That was 
held in Algeciras in 1906, but the French were left in 
control of the finances and the police of the country. In 
1911 Germany sent a gunboat to Agadir; but, when 
Great Britain told Germany she would help France in 
case of war, the Germans yielded and accepted part of 
the French Congo in exchange for a French protectorate 
over Morocco. Three years earlier, when Austria an- 
nexed Bosnia in 1908, trouble between Germany and 
Austria on the one side and Russia on the other had been 
avoided only by Russia's refusal to fight. Germany, de- 
feated in the Agadir affair and balked in her Near Eastern 
plans by the Treaty of Bucharest (1913), refused to depend 
longer on diplomacy but prepared to dominate the Balkans 
and maintain her prestige in Europe by force of arms. 



ALLIANCES AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT 571 



General References 

Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II, 
679-710. 

Fife, The German Empire between Two Wars, 3-97. 

Bullard, The Diplomacy of the Great War, Book I. 

Committee of Public Information, Conquest and Kultur. 

Allen, The Great War, I, 60-203. 

Rose, The Development of the European Nations, Part II, 
1-43, 320-384. 

Tardieu, France and the Alliances. 

Cheradame, The Pan-German Plot Unmasked. 

Schmitt, England and Germany 1740-1914- 

Gibbons, The New Map of Europe. 

Usher, Pan-Germanism. 

Seymour, The Diplomatic Background of the War {1870-1914). 

Von Bulow, Imperial Germany. 

Topics 

German World Politics : Gibbons, The New Map of Europe, 
21-57 ; Von Bulow, Imperial Germany, 13-123 ; Rohrbach, 
German World Policies, 157-211; Seymour, The Diplomatic 
Background of the War, 61-114. 

Entente Cordiale : Tardieu, France and the Alliances, 
60-80 ; Bullard, The Diplomacy of the Great War, 69-83 ; Sey- 
mour, The Diplomatic Background of the War, 140-158. 

The Algeciras Affair : Seymour, The Diplomatic Back- 
ground of the War, 166-176 ; Gibbons, The New Map of Europe, 
71-76 ; Bullard, The Diplomacy of the Great War, 84-101 ; 
Schmitt, England and Germany, 226-240. 

Studies 

1. The "League of the Three Emperors." Coolidge, The 
Triple Alliance, 43-52. 

2. The war scare of 1875. Coolidge, The Triple Alliance, 55-62. 

3. The Congress of Berlin. Bullard, The Diplomacy of the 
Great War, 3-12. 

4. Formation of the Dual Alliance. Tardieu, France and the 
Alliances, 1-15. 

5. The Dual Alliance after 1894. Seymour, The Diplomatic 
Background of the War, 54-60. 



572 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

6. The Agadir affair. Seymour, The Diplomatic Background 
of the War, 184r-193. 

7. The Bosnian crisis of 1908. Seymour, The Diplomatic 
Background of the War, 178-182. 

8. Serbia and the Jugo-Slav union. Forbes, The Balkans, 
131-142. 

9. International significance of the Balkan Wars. Seymour, 
The Diplomatic Background of the War, 230-244. 

Questions 

1. What did Bismarck consider his greatest task after the 
formation of the German Empire? Why did he form the Triple 
Alliance, and what was the purpose and nature of that Alliance ? 

2. What do you mean by pan-Germanism? Name and 
explain the most important elements of German world policy. 
What was the attitude of Germany toward the Netherlands? 
What military methods were an integral part of the German 
plan? What was the nature of Germany's spy system? What 
did Germany mean by her "place in the sun"? What is " kul- 
tur"? 

3. How did the North African situation make possible friend- 
ship between France and Great Britain? What was the nature 
and importance of the "Entente Cordiale"? Explain why 
England feared Germany. Why did England secure the friend- 
ship of Russia? What was the nature of the Triple Entente? 

4. Explain the events which led to the calling of the Alge- 
ciras conference. What agreements were made at Algeciras? 
Why were the German war party and most of the people deter- 
mined never again to yield after the Agadir affair? (Compare 
German confidence in their diplomats and in their army.) 

5. Why did not the absorption of Bosnia by Austria in 1908 
give rise to a general war? What were the Balkan interests 
of Austria ? What were the Near Eastern ambitions of Germany ? 
Explain the different Russian interests and plans among the 
Slavic peoples of the Near East. 

6. Why did not Germany in 1911 make use of her army and 
navy to uphold her prestige in Morocco ? Why were the Cen- 
tral Empires fairly content with the results of the First Balkan 
War? Why were they much dissatisfied with the results of 
the Second Balkan War? Why were the plans of the Serbians 
an excellent excuse for Germany's ambitious schemes? 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE GREAT WAR (TO 1918) 

Beginnings 

432. The Situation before July, 1914. — It can be Difficulties 
seen from the events related in the preceding chapter l 11 .™ 8,111 " 

o i taming the 

that the peace of Europe had been maintained with dim- peace of 
culty before 1914. Moreover, the development of the Eur °P e - 
great alliances, or groups of Powers, which in a sense 
maintained the balance of power in Europe, gave assur- 
ance that, if any war began which involved two or even 
one of the six Great Powers, all of the others would al- 
most inevitably become involved also. 

As already explained, the Balkan situation was full of Prepara- 
danger. The kaiser had asserted, after the Agadir J^^ 
affair (§ 427), that he would not again compromise for the trouble, 
sake of European peace. Moreover, the German imperial 
chancellor, von Beth-mann-Holl'weg, declared before the 
Reichstag that the changes of those years in the Balkans 
were disastrous to Germany, if " the great European 
controversy between Germanism and Pan-Slavism should 
come." During the First Balkan War Germany began a 
new period of militarism by adding 140,000 more men 
than the army contained before and by voting larger 
sums of money for her military establishment. At once 
France passed a law restoring the three year term of serv- 
ice for her recruits. Belgium then provided for the 
reorganization of her army, including all young men of a 
certain age. Russia soon after increased the term of 
enlistment for her soldiers. It can thus be seen that the 
Balkan wars created a new situation and a new distrust 

573 



574 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Murder of 
the Arch- 
duke Ferdi- 
nand, and 
ultimatum 
to Serbia. 



among the great military Powers of the Continent. It 
was in this year also that the Germans perfected their 
new heavy howitzers, the " Big Berthas " which proved 
in 1914 that the most heavily armed steel fortresses 
furnished slight protection to cities. 

433. The Serbian Crisis. — The last week of June, 
1914, the Crown Prince Ferdinand of Austria, a leader 
of the Austrian Pan-Germanists, was in Sa-ra-je'vo, the 
capital of Bosnia, the Serb people of which (§412) were 




Market Place, Sarajevo, Bosnia 

discontented and opposed to Austrian rule. On June 
28, Ferdinand was assassinated in a street of Sarajevo. 
Almost, a month of ominous quiet followed this murder, 
although at Potsdam, on July 5, a secret conference 
of German leaders agreed upon war, after giving their 
bankers two weeks in which to get ready. On July 23, 
at a time when the Russian ambassador to Vienna was 
on his vacation, and the leading men of the French gov- 
ernment were away, the Austrian government presented 
to Serbia an ultimatum which insisted that she put an 
end to Pan-Slavic agitation, that she accept the help of 



BEGINNINGS OF GREAT WAR 575 

Austrians in ferreting out and punishing the assassins of 
Ferdinand, and that she practically give up her independ- 
ence for the benefit of Austria. Forty-eight hours only 
were allowed for a reply. Two minutes before the time 
was up, Serbia, at the earnest request of Great Britain 
and France, yielded on most of the points demanded by 
Austria, and asked for further information on one other. 
The last request of all was denied because it was contrary 
to the Serbian constitution. 

It was hoped and expected by the friends of Serbia Attitude of 
that this reply would be satisfactory to Austria, but it * he p ^ wer jJ 
was not, largely because the Austrians were eager for ultimatum. 
war with Serbia. When the Entente Powers protested 
to Germany, she declared that it was not her affair and 
that the controversy was of a purely local character, 
not of an international nature. Because the German 
general staff, as early as June 9, had ordered " industrial 
mobilization," it really is immaterial whether the Ger- 
man government knew in advance the general char- 
acter of the Austrian demands. Since Germany was pre- 
paring for actual war before the assassination of the 
Archduke occurred, undoubtedly both Germany and 
Austria desired such terms in the ultimatum as the 
Serbians would not be able to grant. We know also that 
mamr classes besides those in control of the German gov- 
ernment earnestly desired a general war. If war could 
not be forced on Europe, Germany was determined to 
carry out her program and to make this another proof of 
the prestige of the Teutonic Powers in Europe. 1 

1 At this time it was understood in Germany, according to her papers, 
that "warlike moves on the part of Austria-Hungary against Serbia 
would bring Russia into the question and might draw Germany into a war 
in accordance with her duty as Austria's ally." Germany stated further 
that Pan-Slavism threatened the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy, which would so weaken her ally that it menaced the Triple 
Alliance and therefore affected Germany vitally. 



576 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Progress of 
hostilities 
before July 
29. 



Contrasts 
between 
Britain's 
and Ger- 
many's 
efforts to 
maintain 
peace. 



German 
ultimatums 
to Russia 
and France. 



434. Peace or War? — During the last week of July, 
1914, Sir Edward Grey, the British foreign minister, 
was particularly active in his efforts to maintain peace. 
He first suggested a conference of the four great Euro- 
pean Powers which were not directly involved, for the 
purpose of settling the dispute between Austria and Russia, 
since Russia was supporting Serbia unhesitatingly. 
This suggestion was declined by Germany, and two other 
attempts to maintain peace were equally futile. On 
July 28 Austria declared war on Serbia, and the next day 
Russia began to mobilize her troops against Austria. 
She took particular pains to inform Germany that mobili- 
zation was not against her. 

That same day Sir Edward Grey urged that some plan 
of peaceful settlement be arranged and he declared that 
he was willing to accept " any method that Germany 
thought possible, if only Germany would press the but- 
ton in the interests of peace." Germany claimed that she 
did try to bring pressure to bear upon Austria to wait, 
but Austria refused to do so until she found that the much 
desired war against Serbia would mean war with Russia. 
Then she hesitated and agreed to reopen the whole ques- 
tion. She so informed Germany, but Germany refused 
to give this information to the entente allies. In fact 
throughout those critical days Germany blocked every 
offer of mediation. She pretended to be working for 
peace, but her only idea of peace was one in which 
Russia should stand aside arid allow Austria to crush 
Serbia. 

On July 31 Russia began the mobilization of her entire 
army against Austria. At two o'clock that same day 
Germany informed Russia that unless her mobilization 
ceased immediately there must be war between them, 
and the responsibility would be Russia's. At the same 
time she called for a quasi-mobilization of her own forces, 



BEGINNINGS OF GREAT WAR 577 

which had been called to " attention " more than a 
week before. Germany demanded of Russia that her 
forces be demobilized immediately and allowed but twelve 
hours for an answer. On the same fatal thirty-first of 
July, Germany demanded that France inform her what 
France's attitude would be in case of war between Ger- 
many and Russia. The next day France replied that 
she " would take such action as her interests might 
dictate." Meanwhile, Great Britain notified Germany 
that in case of general European troubles the German 
government must not think " that Great Britain would 
stand aside." 

435. The Outbreak of War. — On August first, there- Conditions 
fore, a general war was almost unavoidable. Serbian * av( g able 
concessions, Russian willingness to discuss the problem, many in 
French influence against war, repeated British attempts case of war- 
to mediate, and even Austria's willingness to reopen the 
question had been in vain. Germany wanted war and 
was determined to rule or ruin, and the time seemed to her 
propitious. A great strike had just occurred in Petrograd, 
the president and premier of France were out of the 
country, and the Irish Home Rule problem threatened 
trouble for Great Britain, if not disruption of the United 
Kingdom. To be sure, the kaiser was on a hunting trip, 
but German statesmen have admitted that his vacation 
was a " blind," intended to deceive the peoples of the 
entente countries. 

If the time seemed propitious, so did the preparations. German 
The German standing army was forty per cent larger P re P ar ,a- 
than it had been three years before. Ordnance and aggressive 
munitions factories of the empire had been working over- and f "f" c " 
time. Gold and military supplies had been gathered in war. 
large quantities. If war was to come, it must be, in the 
opinion of German military leaders, an offensive war. 
Already trouble had been stirred up " in the north of 
2p 



578 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Germany- 
makes war 
on Russia 
and France. 



Great 
Britain 
enters the 



Coastal 
plain and 
series of 
bluffs and 
escarp- 
ments. 



Africa and in Russia, ... in Egypt, Tunis, Algeria, 
and Morocco." The Germans believed that " an ulti- 
matum with a short time limit, to be followed immedi- 
ately by invasion, would allow sufficient justification for 
our [German] action in international law." " We must 
be strong in order to annihilate at one powerful swoop 
our enemies in the East and West." 

On the first of August, therefore, Germany mobilized 
her troops on the eastern front against Russia and on 
the western front against France. Already she had de- 
clared through" her ambassador at Petrograd that a state 
of war existed between Germany and Russia. At once 
France began to mobilize her troops on the eastern front, 
but she gave orders that they should not take position 
nearer than five miles to the Belgian frontier. August 3 
war was declared by Germany against France. 

On August 4, after the invasion of Belgium by German 
troops, Great Britain, which had already been mobilizing 
her navy and was ready to send an expeditionary force 
to the Continent, declared war against Germany. The 
Great War, a war which in a true sense had been " made 
in Germany," was a reality. 

436. The Western Theater of War. — The area in 
which the most important events of the war have occurred 
includes Belgium and northeastern France. The geog- 
raphy of this region from the Rhine river west to the 
Seine x and north to the English Channel and North Sea 
is exceedingly interesting. For a distance of approxi- 
mately one hundred miles from the seacoast there is a 
wide plain broken by very few rivers, the most important 
of which are the Somme 2 and the Scheldt, 3 neither of which, 
however, is a serious barrier to the advance of an army. 
The southern two thirds of this region is made up of a 
series of slopes. Beginning at a point a little less than 
iSen. 2 Som. 3 Shelt. 



BEGINNINGS OF GREAT WAR 579 

one hundred miles east of Paris, 1 there is a series of bluffs 
facing eastward and commanding the plains which lie 
between each two series of bluffs. An army advancing 
across this country from Germany would find it necessary 
either to climb the succession of bluffs, or to make use of 
one of the exceedingly narrow river valleys which extend 
like canyons from the east to the west. 2 

Because of the geography of the southern part of this One easy 
region and the series of French forts 3 along the German ™ute, an ^ 
boundary west of the Vosges mountains, the Germans were but difficult, 
obliged either to risk an attack through the narrow pas- 
sage-way north of Verdun and south of Longwy, 4 or it 
would be necessary for them to violate the neutrality of 
Lux 'em-burg for an invasion south of the Ardennes moun- 
tains, or to invade Belgium in order to sweep across 
through the northern coastal plain, if possible, to the Seine 
river. We can see from this short survey and from a 
more careful study of the topographical map on page 599, 
that if the Germans were determined to make a quick and 
successful drive into France, they must make it by way 
of Brussels in Belgium. For that reason the invasion 
through Belgium was referred to by the German chancellor 
asa" dire necessity," 'but to do that meant the violation 
of Belgian neutrality. 

437. Violation of Belgian Neutrality. — The neutrality Attitude of 
of Belgium had been guaranteed in 1839 by all of the ^™^ 14 
great Powers of that day and had been reaffirmed by toward 
Prussia and France in 1870. In 1913 the German war Bel f a * 

neutrality. 

party believed and asserted that " in the next European 
war it will also be necessary that the small states should 
be forced to follow us or be subdued. In certain condi- 

1 For centuries the area around Paris has been called the "island 
of France " ; within this island lies the " Paris basin." 

2 See map, p. 599. 

3 Those at Belfort (bel-for'), near Nan-cy', at Verdun, and south of 
Verdun. 4 »Lon-vee'. 



580 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Peculiar 

reasoning of 

German 

leaders 

toward 

Belgium. 



Belgium's 
refusal to 
allow the 
passage of 
the German 
army. 



tions their armies and their fortified places can be rapidly 
conquered or neutralized. This would probably be the 
case with Belgium and Holland. ... If their defensive 
organization was established against us ... we could 
in no circumstances offer Belgium a guarantee for the 
security of her neutrality." 

German justification for disregarding Belgian neu- 
trality sounds odd to foreign ears. Not only did the 
imperial chancellor declare that invasion of Belgium was 
a matter of necessity, but he argued that " necessity knows 
no law." " Our troops have occupied Luxemburg and 
perhaps have already entered Belgian territory. Gentle- 
men, that is a breach of international law. . . . He who is 
menaced as we are, and is fighting for his highest posses- 
sions, can consider only how he is to hack his way 
through." x A day or two later, when Great Britain 
entered the war because Belgium's neutrality had been 
violated, Bethmann-Hollweg declared further, "just for 
a scrap of paper Great Britain was going to make war 
on a kindred nation who desired nothing better than to 
be friends with her." This action of England he asserted 
" was like striking a man from behind while he was fight- 
ing for his life against two assailants." The strange 
thing about these otherwise unexplainable phrases is 
the fact that the chancellor probably believed what he 
said. 

438. The Conquest of Belgium. — Germany hoped 
that her troops would be allowed to pass through Belgium 
and strike France a vital blow before the French were 
ready, and before Russia's army could make any move- 
ment. If France were crippled and out of the combat, 
she could then be left ; and the whole of Germany's mili- 
tary might could be brought to bear upon Russia, which 
the general staff believed would not be prepared for war 

1 The German White Book, Appendix. 



BEGINNINGS OF GREAT WAR 



581 



for several months. This plan miscarried for a number 
of reasons. When Belgium was asked to allow the Ger- 
man troops to pass through the country, on condition 
that they did no unnecessary injury and paid an indemnity 
for damages, the Belgian government refused absolutely 
and asserted that they were " firmty resolved to repel, 
by every means within their power, any attack upon 
their rights." 

The German forces advanced against Liege and Na'- 
mur, two well-fortified industrial cities on the Meuse river. 



Progress 
the inva- 



of 




American Relief Depot in Belgium 



There they were detained several days by the stout but 
futile resistance of the Belgians, for the forts surrounding 
those cities were destroyed quickly by the heavy German 
artillery. Most of the troops crossed the Belgian plain 
via Brussels. As the invaders came to towns, they 
were attacked by different "Belgian forces and on entering 



582 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




cities suffered appreciably from snipers, who shot from 
the windows and roofs of the houses. 

A large part of the unspeakable atrocities which were 
suffered later by the Belgian people were excused by the 
Germans on their claim that many of these snipers were 
civilians, statements which are unquestionably false. 
From the very first, when entering a town, they placed 
groups of women and sometimes children in front of 
their own soldiers. In case there was sniping, houses 
were burned, property looted, and innocent people mur- 
dered without provocation. Apparently for the bayonet- 
ing of babies and attacks upon women, the Huns needed 
no excuse. Belgian atrocities were the result of three 
causes : the German idea that whatever they wanted was 
right, the brutal barbarity of officers and soldiers, and the 
desire to break down resistance by terrorizing the people. 

439. The Drive on Paris and the Battle of the Marne. 
— It is impossible and unnecessary to follow in detail the 
campaigns since August, 1914. We can note only a few 
general movements ; the first of these is the drive on 
Paris. Before the Germans were able to cross Belgium, 
a series of armies, French, Belgian, and British, tried to 
delay them at the hills on the west side of the Meuse river 
and the south side of the Sambre 1 river, in Belgium. 
Of course, there were not enough men to hold this line. 
The Belgian armies withdrew toward Antwerp, which was 
captured in October; and the French and British troops 
were forced back by the Germans, who tried day after 
day to surround the British forces on the left flank of the 
retreating armies. For nearly two weeks, there was a 
general withdrawal movement, in form. like the closing of 
a door, the hinges of which were at Verdun and the outer 
edge first in northwestern Belgium, then in northeastern 
France, and finally in and near Paris. So long as the door 

1 Sanb. 



BEGINNINGS OF GREAT WAR 



583 



remained partly open, the Germans might have forced 
their way through into central France. When the 
door had swung shut, its inner edge was just south 
of Verdun, and protected by the fortresses along the 
Meuse, and the lock had snapped shut just south of 
Paris and its fortifications. The Germans were then 
forced to give up their encircling or outflanking move- 
ment. 

The French commander, General Joffre, 1 had placed The battle 
his series of armies on the south side of the Marne river ^arne 




valley in a line stretching from a point south of Verdun 
across to a similar point south of Paris. Behind this he 
had gathered one new army, and on his left wing he had 
prepared another. Because the Russians were making 
rapid progress in their Ga-li'cian campaign (§ 440), the 
Germans sent back 200,000 men to help on the eastern 
front. When the new army in the West was brought out 
from Paris on auto trucks, the German right wing, at- 
tacked in front and on the side, was forced to retreat. 



1 Zhoff. 



584 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Battle of 
the Aisne, 
1914. 



1914 see- 
saw cam- 
paigns on 
the eastern 
front. 



The German army next on the east was therefore com- 
pelled to withdraw somewhat. The changed position of 
this second German army left a gap on its right. This 
made it possible for General Foch x to attack on both sides 
of the marshes of St. Gond. In two places he broke 
through the German line and forced all of the Teuton 
armies to retreat rapidly. Thus, on the plain of Cham- 
pagne, 2 only a few miles from the point where Europe was 
saved thirteen and a half centuries earlier from Attila 
and his Huns, the German hordes were driven back and 
Europe again was saved. 

The Germans withdrew to the heights north of the 
Aisne 3 river, where some trenches had already been 
constructed. As the river is deep and there are high 
hills on both sides, it was impossible for the Allies to 
capture the new German positions without a sacrifice 
of men which they were unwilling to make. 4 

Campaigns Outside of France 
440. Campaigns on the Eastern Front. — The Russian 
advance into East Prussia and into Galicia, a province of 
northeastern Austria, in August, 1914, was not expected by 
the Germans, and it was undertaken for the purpose of 
drawing troops from the drive on Paris. On September 
3 the capture of Lemberg caused the transfer of several 

1 Fosh. 2 Sham-pain'. 3 Ain. 

4 After the capture of Antwerp, surrounded by very strong forts, 
which were reduced in about twelve days by the new German siege 
artillery, the Belgians withdrew into the northwestern corner of their 
country. The Allies and the Germans, in their attempts to out-flank 
each other, moved their armies farther and farther north from the Aisne 
until, in this "race for the sea," there was a complete double line of in- 
trenchments from the Aisne to the sea; in fact, the trenches stretched 
from the North Sea to Switzerland. Open fighting in the West was at 
an end. At Yser near the North Sea the Germans tried to break through 
and reach the "channel ports," but the heroic Belgians flooded the 
country. Farther south at Ypres the picked troops of the Prussian 
guards were driven back (October, 1914) with appalling losses. 



CAMPAIGNS OUTSIDE OF FRANCE 585 

army corps to the east. Caught in the lake region of 
East Prussia, two Russian armies were defeated by von 
Hin'den-burg, but his attempt to follow up these German 
successes by an invasion of Russia and Russian Poland 
ended in disaster for Germany. Evidently the advantages 
on the northeastern fronts were with the defenders. 
During the winter of 1914-15 the Russians advanced 
again into East Prussia and again into Galicia. By 1915, 
they were in possession of most of the gaps which led 
through the Car-pa'thi-an mountains into Hungary. 

In the slimmer of 1915 the Germans, well intrenched German 
on the west front, made another attempt to capture War- ° 9 i5 # slve ° 
saw, the capital of Poland. A force, led by Hindenburg, Great 
advanced from the north and at the same time another d ™ 
army, led by von Mack'en-sen, drove east through Galicia 1916. 
and then north toward Warsaw. The Polish front was 
skillfully but unsuccessfully defended by the Russian 
armies under the Grand Duke Nicholas. Partly through 
German intrigue (§ 325) there was a scarcity of the proper 
ammunition and of necessary supplies. On August 5, 
1915, Warsaw was evacuated, and the Russian forces 
slowly fell back eastward. In spite of the great terri- 
tory occupied by the Germans, they had failed, for they 
had neither destroyed the Russian army nor had they 
gained control of the north- and-south railway from 
Petrograd to Rumania, the loss of which would have 
really crippled the Russians. The next spring, a Russian 
force under General Bru'si-loff started a new drive in 
Galicia and in southern Poland, by which the German 
forces were pushed back a long distance. 

In the fall of 1917 a German force, finally captured Germany ' 
Ri'ga and a German fleet advanced as far as the Gulf of a ? d R " s ^ a 
Finland. The Russian revolution during the year 1917 
(§ 325) prevented the Russians from organizing a proper 
defense ; but, temporarily, it kept the Germans from assum- 



Mff 1 ' 



THE WAR 

ON THE 

^ EASTERN EROOT 

SCALE OF MILES 

25 50 75 100 125 150 

Farthest Russian advance, 19JT5 wmaa 

Farthest German advance, 29i5,J927^o 
Result of Brusiloff'<s drive • • • 



^•i >r"\ ft t 

hi 



Jaroslav 



«pV. Lemberg 










w: .,, 



• ;a?ms.-en-6.co.,w.i 



586 



CAMPAIGNS OUTSIDE OF FRANCE 587 

ing an active offensive campaign against Russia, because 
they were anxious to conclude peace with the new Rus- 
sian government. For many months German officers and 
forces then occupied the western half of European Russia, 
until the late summer of 1918, since German agents had 
become leaders in the Russian government. Allied suc- 
cesses on the western front in 1918 (§ 450), Czecho- 
slovak and Japanese troops in Siberia, and the advance 
of an allied army from northern Russia then forced the 
Germans to withdraw from central Russia and establish 
anew an " eastern front." 

441. Campaigns in the Southeast. — At the beginning Attempted 
of the war the Austrians naturally advanced into Serbia, ^rbia°m° 
but the rather unexpected Russian attack in August, 1914. 
1914, against Galicia, forced them to evacuate Serbia 
within a month. Something more than a year later, 
in October, 1915, Bulgaria, which had been mobilizing 
her troops, was informed by France and Russia that she 
must join the Entente Allies or war would be declared. 
She accepted the latter alternative, and threw in her lot 
with the Central Empires, which had been joined by Tur- 
key as early as November, 1914. As soon as Bulgaria 
came into the war, a large Austro-German army advanced 
from the north against Serbia to cooperate with the Bul- 
garian army from the east. The Serbian defense col- 
lapsed, as was inevitable ; and within a few weeks prac- 
tically her entire fighting force had been driven out of 
the country. Serbia and Montenegro were thus com- 
pletely conquered, their fields and villages laid waste, and 
their inhabitants subjected to atrocities even greater than 
those suffered by the stricken Belgians. 

With the entrance of Rumania into the war, in August, Conquests 
1916, once more a huge Austro-German force advanced R^^fin 
southeastward. Since Russia had promised to help 1916. 
the Rumanians, they resisted stoutly the advance of the 



588 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Austrians and Germans through the passes of the Car- 
pathian Alps and of the Bulgarians on the Danube 
front, but the Russians, influenced by German gold, did 
not come in time. The Teutonic armies thus gained 
complete control of Rumania, of the Danube river 
to its mouth, and of a very famous wheat-producing 
country. 




The Gallip- 
oli cam- 
paign. 



Early in the war an attempt had been made by the com- 
bined British and French forces, supported by power- 
ful fleets, to seize the Dardanelles. This ended in 
disaster and the blame was laid upon the English 
minister of war, and commanding general, Kitchener. 
This Dardanelles force was afterward transferred to 
Saloniki, Greece. In the fall of 1918 this army, in- 
cluding Serbs and other troops from western Europe, 



CAMPAIGNS OUTSIDE OF FRANCE 



589 



attacked the strongly fortified heights held by the 
Bulgarians. They were completely victorious, and 
late in September, 1918, Bulgaria surrendered uncon- 
ditionally. 

442. Italian Campaigns. — When war broke out, Italy 
refused to aid Germany and Austria, because, according 




to the terms of the Triple Alliance (§ 418), she could Slow ad- 
be called upon to help them only in case they were at- i^JJj^ * 
tacked, and she considered them the aggressors. Italy forces for 
remained out of the war until May, 1915, when she de- * 
clared war on Austria and began a campaign for the con- 
quest of the Trentino and Is'tri-a (§ 279), two areas which 
were still held by her ancient enemy. She found it neces- 
sary to maneuver in mountainous regions, and her ad- 



redenta. 



590 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Stout resist- 
ance of the 
Italians on 
the Piave 
river front. 



Conquest 
by Japan 
of German 
colonies in 
China and 
in the 
Pacific 
Ocean. 



vance was slow in both regions. Not until later did Italy 
find it necessary to declare war upon Germany. The 
progress of the Italians received a decided check in 1916, 
when the Austro-German forces made two great concerted 
drives, one upon Italy and the other on the ring of 
fortresses around Verdun (§ 448). The Italians were 
saved by counter drives, started, one by Brusiloff in 
southern Poland and Galicia (§ 440), and another by 
the British in the Somme valley (§ 448). 

Under General Cadorna the Italians advanced slowly 
toward Trieste, the Austrian port at the head of the Adri- 
atic Sea. The farther he penetrated Austrian territory, 
the more he exposed the left wing of his army to attacks 
from the north. In November, 1917, the enemy took 
advantage of this situation ancf made a drive of unequaled 
violence upon the Italian left flank. Cadorna was obliged 
to withdraw about fifty miles to the Pi-a've river, where he 
took up a new position connecting his army with the 
force which was fighting in the Trentino. This position 
the Italians were able to hold successfully against their 
opponents. In June, 1918, a new advance of the Austrians 
across the Piave ended in complete disaster and the loss 
of a large force to the victorious Italians. 

443. Campaigns Outside of Europe. — As we noted in 
section 298, Germany had acquired, in the last years of 
the nineteenth century and to some extent in the earlier 
years of the twentieth, a good-sized colonial empire. Since 
the Allies had absolute control of the sea, all of these 
German colonies and the exposed possessions of the Ger- 
man allies, particularly those of Turkey, were open to 
allied attacks. Immediately upon entering the war the 
Japanese landed troops near Kiao-chau, the German 
sphere of influence in China (§ 388). Japan declared 
that she was conquering this area not for herself, but for 
China. The town and German garrison surrendered on 



CAMPAIGNS OUTSIDE OF FRANCE 591 

November 7, 1914. In the meantime the Japanese navy, 
supported by some Japanese troops, had seized the 
Caroline islands and other German colonies in the Pacific 
Ocean. Some of these were turned over to Great Britain, 
whose Australian navy had already captured the Samoan 
islands and other German possessions in the South Pacific. 

At the outbreak of hostilities the German colonists Conquest of 
in central and southwestern Africa took the field against th f G . erinan 

. colonies in 

the British forces. The British armies under Generals Africa. 
Bo'tha and Smuts succeeded in overcoming the German 
troops in Southwest Africa, and later a force conquered 
without very great difficulty the German Kamerun. 
German East Africa was overrun in 1917. In this way 
Germany lost possession of all her colonies in Africa. 

The Turks naturally desired to get control of the Suez British ad- 
Canal and regain for themselves Egypt, which had prac- purine 
tically become a separate state under British suzerainty 
(§ 377). They failed in this undertaking, and the counter 
movement of the British force was so successful that in 
December, 1917, Jerusalem was occupied by the British 
troops, and in September, 1918, the British commander, 
General Allenby, captured two Turkish armies near the 
Sea of Galilee. 

An English force succeeded in penetrating the Tigris- The British 
Euphrates basin, and capturing Bagdad, from which the taniia S ° P °~ 
English advanced northward until they reached the 
Caspian Sea. The Russian army in the Caucasus region 
had been commanded by the Grand Duke Nicholas and 
as early as February, 1916, had captured Er-ze'rum near 
the east end of the Black Sea. 

America's Entrance into the War 
444. Neutral Trade and Submarine Warfare. — At the The prob- 
very beginning of the Great War, the United States de- ^™^ f j 
clared her neutrality and President Wilson urged that trade. 



592 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



all American citizens be truly and strictly neutral. In 
accordance with the custom of all nations and ages, we 
left our ports open to the vessels of all countries on equal 
terms. At these ports foodstuffs, munitions of war, cop- 
per, and other materials necessary for war supplies could 
be obtained by any unarmed merchant vessel which served 
as an ocean carrier. Because of the blockade of the Ger- 





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The Lusitania 



First sub- 
marine 
campaign. 



man ports which was maintained by Great Britain and 
her allies, it was impossible for German vessels to take 
advantage of these opportunities, but the merchantmen 
of the Allies and ships which flew the American flag carried 
these war supplies in constantly increasing quantities 
from our Atlantic seaports to the war area. 

In order to break the British blockade, the Germans 
began early in the year 1915 the first submarine warfare. 
These submarines were small, with limited sailing radii, 



AMERICA'S ENTRANCE INTO WAR 593 

and were soon hunted down and destroyed at the bases 
which had been established on the Irish coast. They 
destroyed many vessels, but their effect upon the block- 
ade was practically negligible. Seeing this, the German 
government adopted a policy of u {rightfulness" which they 
hoped would destroy the ever tightening cordon of block- 
ading ships. All the world remembers that on the seventh 
day of May, 1915, the British passenger steamship Lusi- 
tania was torpedoed from a submarine, absolutely with- 
out warning. One hundred fourteen Americans lost 
their lives by this outrage. On protest of the American 
government, Germany relaxed her submarine policy, 
but she offered no satisfaction or proper explanation for 
this ruthless deed. 

445. Extension of German Submarine Program. — Contro- 
After months of patient waiting, during which several ^markfe 
Americans lost their lives through submarines, in March, warfare. 
1916, a French steamer, the Sussex, plying between 
ports on either side of the English Channel, was sunk 
together with many of her 325 passengers. The United 
States government immediately protested in vigorous 
terms and on the eighteenth of April notified Germany 
that " the government of the United States has been very 
patient," but it could tolerate no longer " the use of sub- 
marines for the destruction of an enemy's commerce." 
We asserted that submarine warfare " is, of necessity, 
because of the very character of the vessels employed 
and the very methods of attack which their employment 
of course involves, utterly incompatible with the principles 
of humanity, the long-established and incontrovertible 
rights of neutrals, and the sacred immunities of non- 
combatants." A few days later, on the fourth of May, 
the German imperial government notified President 
Wilson that unarmed merchant vessels " both within and 
without the area declared as naval war zone, shall not be 
2q 



594 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Ruthless 

submarine 

warfare. 



Other hos- 
tile acts 
of Germany 
against 
the United 
States. 



Underlying 
causes of 
our en- 
trance into 
the war. 



sunk without warning and without saving human lives, 
unless these ships attempt to escape or offer resistance." 

Although the Germans did not keep that promise, 
there was at least some pretense of attempting to observe 
it until the thirty-first of January, 1917, when the German 
ambassador notified the authorities in Washington that 
on the following day a ruthless submarine campaign would 
begin, that an immense new war zone had been created, and 
that " all ships met within that zone will be sunk." Imme- 
diately passports were handed to the ambassador, von 
Bern'storff, and Gerard, our ambassador at Berlin, was 
recalled. President Wilson's years of patient negotiation 
were over. 

446. Reasons for America's Entrance. — The acts of 
Germany during the last week of January, 1917, were 
in a sense a declaration of war against all neutrals and 
particularly against the United States. The German 
imperial government considered war with the United 
States inevitable as a result of this new ruthless submarine 
campaign. To be sure of this we have only to recall 
that before Germany told us of her submarine plans, 
her foreign minister, Zim'mer-mann, sent through her 
embassy in Washington papers which urged Mexico to 
join with Germany and Japan in making war upon the 
United States. 

The sinking of the Lusitania or any one of the events 
of January, 1917, would have been sufficient cause for war 
with Germany, but we must bear in mind that to these 
were added the work of German agents in destroying 
American property which they thought might aid the 
Allies, and the appeal of a Europe which had suffered 
in hundreds of ways, from the violation of Belgium's 
neutrality to the brutal murder of innocent children. 
In fact we had refrained from war as long as we did partly 
because of Germany's continued promises, partly because 



AMERICA'S ENTRANCE INTO WAR 595 

we did not believe the reports of atrocities, partly be- 
cause the American public was not yet ready for war — and 
the American principles embodied in the Monroe Doc- 
trine forbade our engaging in the war while it remained 
a European conflict — and lastly, but most important of 
all, because so long as we remained neutral there was 
possibility of our bringing the war to an end. 

At first armed neutrality was proposed, but, as this Declara- 
would have been an unsatisfactory makeshift, on April 6, ^ OG - 1 of 1 m a 7' 
1917, Congress adopted a resolution which opened with 
the sentence : " The state of war between the United 
States and the Imperial German Government which has 
thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally 
declared. . . ." It closed with the following forceful 
and significant words : "to bring the conflict to a suc- 
cessful termination all the resources of the country are 
hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States." 

447. The American War Program. — Two of the great- Creation of 
est problems of a nation at war are the raising of an armv an Amen ~ 

^ . ° J can army. 

and of money. Early in 1917 Congress agreed that all 
men between twenty-one and thirty inclusive should be 
subject to draft. From this number, excluding aliens, 
those physically disabled, and those who had persons 
dependent, 687,500 were drawn by lot for the first draft 
army. In the meantime, many hundred thousand had 
volunteered for the regular army, the national guard 
army, naval service, and other branches. This force of 
nearly two million men was of course only the beginning. 
The officers to lead these troops were prepared in officers' 
camps, and training was given to the soldiers in canton- 
ments, of which thirty-two were originally located in 
different parts of the country. Immense preparations 
were undertaken for aviation service and other necessary 
war activities. By September, 1918, a million and a half 
soldiers were in France, and more than three millions 



596 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Some war 
problems. 



Importance 
of Verdun 
to the de- 
fense and 
morale of 
France. 



were enrolled in the American army. In that month 
Congress passed a new law by which all men between the 
ages of 18 and 45 inclusive were subject to military service. 
Since large sums of money were needed, Congress began 
at once to levy new taxes and to issue new loans (§ 452). 
As early as 1916 the government had begun to reorganize 
some of its departments and bureaus. A Council for 
National Defense had been created. In 1917 a food 
administration was organized under Herbert Hoover, 
to help conserve food supplies within the country. A 
fuel administration was created, and in December, 1917, 
the government took over the railroads and appointed 
William G. McAdoo, Secretary of the Treasury, director 
general of the railroads. Since it was necessary to have 
more unity and greater cooperation, and better coordina- 
tion in the numerous administrative departments, the 
Overman Bill in 1918 empowered President Wilson to 
reorganize any bureau or its work in the interest of greater 
efficiency. 

The Western Front (January, 1916-September, 1918) 

448. Verdun and the Somme. — The center of the 
allied defense and the key to the French position was the 
series of powerful forts in a very hilly region of French 
Lorraine surrounding the old town of Verdun, on the 
upper Meuse river. In February, 1916, the Germans 
massed an immense force under their crown prince for 
the purpose of capturing this ring of forts. If Verdun 
could be taken, the French line would be forced back at 
its most exposed point ; but the result chiefly desired by 
the Germans was to break the spirit of French resistance. 
The French people believed that so long as Verdun stood 
their cause would triumph ; the Germans felt that the 
capture of Verdun would be the beginning of the end, and 
that the end would be the collapse and failure of France. 



THE WESTERN FRONT 



597 



The terrific blows of the German attack were in part German 



successful, and the French were driven back several miles. 
They rallied bravely and their defense was like a stone 
wall, as the French troops echoed the cry, " They shall 
not pass." Although they had only one railway leading 
into Verdun compared with fourteen on which the attack- 
ing Germans depended, by the use of a continuous line 




BHHHH 



Ruins of Peronne after the Evacuation of the Germans, 1916 
(King George V at left of center) 



attack, 
French de- 
fense, and 
French 
victory. 



of 20,000 motor trucks, they brought 200,000 troops to 
the relief of the besieged garrison and so stiffened their 
defense that the Germans could make no headway. In 
June, 1916, after BrusilofTs great drive into Galicia and 
southern Poland (§ 440), and the combined British and 
French offensive on the Somme, the French assumed 
the offensive. Within seven hours they drove the Ger- 
mans back almost to their original line before Verdun. 



598 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Battles in 
the Somme 
valley, 1916. 



The heroic and successful defense of Verdun may easily 
be ranked with the Battle of the Marne as a turning point 
in the Great War. 

In the Somme valley in Northern France, where the 
British and French lines joined, attacks were made re- 
peatedly before July, 1916. At that time there began a 
great drive on the part of the British and the French, 
which consisted of a series of battles lasting several 
months. The allied loss was heavy, but the German 
loss was estimated as twice as large, and for the first five 

months was thought to 
have been more than 
700,000. As a result of 
this drive, the Germans 
withdrew in 1917 to 
the " Hindenburgline," 
named after the chief of 
staff who had been di- 
recting German oper- 
ations since August, 
1916. 

449. The German 
Offensive (1918). — 
During the fall and 
winter of 1917-18, the 
Germans massed men 
on the northern part 
of the western front 
and brought up guns, ammunition, and other military 
supplies in appalling quantities. It was known that the 
offensive of 1918 would be the supreme effort of the Ger- 
man forces. There was good reason for this, because 
more than a million Germans who had been fighting on 
the eastern front were freed when the Russians and 
others in eastern Europe made peace with the Germans. 



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fensive in 








the spring 








of 1918. 









© Underwood and Underwood 
Shell Explosion 



THE WESTERN FRONT 599 

A second reason was the fact that the Americans, who 
eventually would furnish a force of many millions, had at 
the time only a few hundred thousand soldiers in France. 
There was a third reason : in spite of drawing upon boys 
for their yearly supply of soldiers, the German armies 
numbered a million and a half less in the spring of 1918 
than in the summer of 1916. This loss in numbers was 
bound to continue. In a sense, therefore, the drive of 
the spring of 1918 was Germany's last chance. 

The German drive of 1918 began in Pic'ar-dy on the The battle 
morning of March 21. An attack was made along an ° lcar y ' 
entire front, the trenches of which had been bombarded 
for hours or days with high explosives and with gas 
shells. At certain' points where they hoped to break 
through, great masses of men trained for "shock" 
attacks were hurled forward with tremendous losses. 
Meanwhile, the attacking forces on either side of the 
massed formation of shock troops carried the trenches 
north and south of the point where the Germans had 
already broken through. Thrust back and in disorder, 
the allied line gave way over a fifty-mile front and 
reserves were not able to come up in sufficient numbers 
until the Germans had reached a line only a few miles 
east of Amiens. In area, however, the territory regained 
by the Germans was only about equal to that which the 
Allies had gained as a result of the battles of the Somme 
and the subsequent German withdrawal. 

In 1914, after the failure of the drive against Paris, the Later Ger- 

Germans had tried to break through the allied line in ™ an °? en ~ 

& sives, April- 

Flanders (§ 439 n.) in order to reach the " channel ports." June, 1918. 

In 1918 they attempted to do the same thing, and south 

of Ypres 1 they made some progress. Later, an army 

under the crown prince attacked the allied forces west of 

Reims 2 and advanced to the Marne river. When the 

1 Eepr. a R an z or Reems. 



600 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Allied 
victory in 
the "Marne 
salient." 



Succession 
of Allied 
victories — 
Soissons to 
North Sea. 



Germans attempted to widen this " Marne salient/' they 
failed, and American marines even forced them back a 
distance of several miles in the first really successful 
counter attack made by the Allies. The Germans had 
failed to reach Paris, they had failed to reach the-" channel 
ports," they had failed to get control of any important 
railways, and they had so extended their line, and had so 
undermined the morale of their own troops that their 
apparent successes were their greatest failures. 

450. The Great Allied Victory, 1918. — One lesson 
learned by the Allies during those months of stress was 
the need of concerted action. While the battle of Picardy 
was still in progress, General Foch, hero of the Marne and 
later engagements, and considered at that time the greatest 
strategist of Europe, was named generalissimo of all the 
allied armies, including the Italians and the Americans. 
On the eighteenth of July, 1918, General Foch started 
his great series of counter offensives against the Germans, 
who were again trying to drive south of the Marne river 
and also to capture Reims. By making use of a " pincer " 
attack and driving in from either side of the " Marne 
salient," he forced the crown prince's army to withdraw 
from the entire pocket. Again a great forward move- 
ment of the allies had begun, as at Verdun, by the defeat 
of the heir to the Prussian throne. 

Having once gained the offensive, Foch kept it, and 
British armies almost immediately drove deep wedges 
into the German lines east of Amiens near Albert, 
and in the sector south of Ypres. Every day for weeks 
the British and French forces struck all along the line, 
now a five-mile gain here, now an encircling movement 
there. In no case was the German army able to hold the 
attacking force ; and, when the French made a new drive 
north of Soissons, 1 the Germans were forced to withdraw 



1 Swa-son'. 



THE WESTERN FRONT 601 

their whole line east of Soissons and northwest from that 
point. They did not stop at the old Hindenburg line for 
the excellent reason that when the Allies had them " on 
the run," they gave them no rest. In the meantime, the 
American army under General Pershing had wiped out a 
salient south of Verdun and had begun an advance into 
German Lorraine. East and west of Argonne forest, in 
Champagne, French and American troops cut into the 
German line, and threatened to cut off the retreat of the 
Huns farther west and northwest. 

Since the Allies were beginning to get a new foothold Importance 
in Russia, and the Czecho-Slovaks and Japanese were ^^^L 
making progress in Siberia, the Germans were forced to 
prepare a new eastern front (§ 440). The surrender of 
Bulgaria (§ 441) compelled the Austrian forces to with- 
draw to new positions within that country. The Teu- 
tonic countries were therefore forced to fight on the 
defensive on their own soil. 

451. Methods of Warfare. — The Germans started the Lines of 
war with the idea that the contest would be decided on trenches - 
the western front. We will remember that when the 
first great drive was made into France in August, 1914 
(§ 439), the Germans were obliged, after the battle of 
the Marne and other conflicts, to withdraw to a line in 
the shape of an arc, extending from Verdun in a westerly 
direction to Noyon * and from that point in a general 
northerly direction west of St. Quentin 2 and Lille 3 to the 
North Sea. Here they intrenched themselves by digging 
lines of parallel trenches connected with one another by 
laterals, and connected also with underground rooms and 
bomb-proof apartments, in which the soldiers remained 
when not on duty, and in which war supplies were kept. 4 

1 Nwa-yon'. 2 San Kon-tan'. 3 Leel. 

* The first line of trenches did not run in a straight line ; either they 
were in a zigzag form or had pockets for the men who were fighting. 



602 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Work of 
the air-men 
and of the 
batteries. 



In front of the first trenches was a tangle of barbed wire 
and other obstructions which it was almost impossible for 
a group of soldiers to pass without terrific loss. The area 
between the enemy trenches was called " No Man's Land." 
Surprise attacks as well as pitched battles have been 
almost impossible for the reason that the air-men could 
give warning whenever enemy troops were massed or 





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German Reserves Making Trenches 

concentrated for special attack. The air-men have also 
been useful in helping their gunners find the range of the 
enemies' trenches or forces and in directing attacks. 

They were made irregular so that a machine gun of the enemy could not 
rake a trench from end to end. This system of trench warfare revolu- 
tionized operations in the field, because both the Germans on the one side 
and the French and British on the other were strongly intrenched from 
Switzerland to the North Sea. 



THE GREAT WAR 603 

Pitched battles between air fleets occur at intervals and 
air duels are everyday affairs. So skilled are the gunners 
on both sides, particularly among the French engineers, 
and among the British and American in recent cam- 
paigns, that shots can be placed exactly where they are 
most needed. This has given rise to a form of con- 
centrated artillery fire, known as barrage. Batteries 
concealed at the rear fire so continually that they make a 
complete curtain of raining shot and shell. When troops 
are about to advance, such a curtain precedes them, 
protecting them adequately and to a certain extent con- 
cealing their movements. Another curtain of fire from 
supplementary batteries in a similar way cuts off the 
retreat of the enemy from the trenches. 

Early in the war the Germans resorted to the use of Uses of 
poisonous and deadly gases, contained in thin exploding gase ^' gas " 
shells, in order to stupefy the allied troops when an attack mets, and 
was being made. To meet this devilish device, which ' tanks - 
was contrary to agreements made at the Hague 1 Confer- 
ences (§ 502), the troops were provided with gas-masks. 
To protect them from bombs dropped by airplanes, from 
the flying splinters of shells, or from the even more deadly 
scattering fragments of hand grenades, the allied troops 
were also provided with steel helmets and in many cases 
were encased in armor not unlike that of early medieval 
times. 2 In order to avoid the severe losses incurred when 
troops crossed barbed wire entanglements, the British in 
1916 made use of an armored traction machine known 
as a " tank," which ran rough shod over barbed wire, 
trenches, trees, or any other obstructions, leaving a 
smooth path for the other troops to follow. 

452. Problems of Finance, Food, and Materials. — No War 
war in history can compare in costliness with the Great fi nances in 
War. Napoleon could have financed a campaign with 

!Hag. *E. E. C. f §485. 



604 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



General 
problem of 
finances. 



American 

war 

finances. 



the amount used in a single day's bombardment on the 
western front. To the first of January, 1918, a sum of 
more than one hundred and forty billions of dollars had 
been used by all the warring nations. This is about 
twenty-five times as much as Great Britain spent during 
the conflict with France and Napoleon, which lasted more 
than a score of years. Of necessity most of these appall- 
ingly heavy expenses were paid by borrowing. The 
cost of France alone at that date amounted to more 
than one third of the wealth of the country before the 
war broke out, and the debt of Great Britain was larger. 
New kinds of taxation had been introduced by all 
of the Allies. Even as early as that date, the British 
tax on incomes of five thousand dollars was as high 
as thirty per cent, and the burden of taxation in both 
France and Germany was growing heavier year by year. 

Great Britain owed her success in her eighteenth and 
nineteenth century wars very largely to the fact that 
she had a longer purse than any of her opponents. 
American difficulties in the Revolutionary War and 
southern failures in the Civil War were greatly aggra- 
vated by lack of funds. In the financing of a war several 
questions must always be considered. First, to what 
extent the government can draw upon the wealth, or 
surplus wealth, of the country. Secondly, to what extent 
the war shall be financed through borrowing in the ordi- 
nary form by means of loans. Thirdly, what dependence 
shall be placed upon taxation. 

A war revenue act was passed in 1917 by our Congress 
which increased the tax revenue of our national govern- 
ment by more than two billion dollars ; but, of course, 
this was only the beginning, and in 1918 a new law was 
passed which again doubled revenues from taxes. In the 
meantime still larger sums were being raised by Liberty 
Loans, each of which produced a larger sum than the one 



THE GREAT WAR 605 

preceding and reached a larger number of subscribers 
than its predecessor. 

With so wide an area devastated and so many men at The food 
the front, the problem of securing a sufficient supply of P roblem - 
food was one of the most serious confronting the European 
countries. If the supply of ships had been great, food 
could have been brought from distant countries like the 
Argentine, Australia, and India; but, since the German 
submarines had destroyed, up to 1918, many more ships 
than had been built, it was necessary to depend upon sup- 
plies which did not require a long voyage. For that 
reason the United States and Canada were called upon 
to furnish wheat, meat, and other commodities which they 
had. The American people were also compelled to reduce 
the quantity of sugar used in order that the supplies of 
Cuba and other near-by sugar-producing countries should 
give Europe a larger amount. Throughout Europe and 
even in the United States and Canada food conservation has 
been practiced and food production has been encouraged. 

Before we entered the war, the United States had been War sup- 
producing guns, war munitions, and other war supplies p les * 
in large quantities ; yet in many sections the production 
after April, 1917, was far greater than it had been before 
that time. Tens of thousands of airplanes have been 
constructed for the American service, rifles have been 
turned out in immense quantities, and large numbers of 
machine guns, presumably of the finest possible types, 
were produced after the first year of the war. These 
weapons of destruction were necessarily made almost 
entirely in American factories. Especial attention was 
given to the program of ship building, which the United 
States had started as early as 1916, but which grew with 
leaps and bounds in the succeeding years until the United 
States alone was producing very much more tonnage than 
was being destroyed by submarines and other war agencies. 



606 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 









THE GREAT WAR — 




General 




Western Front 




1914 




1914 


July 23. 


Austria's ultimatum to 
Serbia 






July 28. 


War on Serbia by Austria 






July 31. 


War on Russia by Ger- 
many 






Aug. 3. 


War on France by Ger- 
many 






Aug. 4. 


Violation of Belgium's 

neutrality 
Great Britain enters war 


Aug. 4. 


Invasion of Belgium 



Aug. 24. Invasion of France 



British blockade 
1915 
German submarine warfare 
Sinking of Lusitania 
Bulgaria enters war 



Sept. 6-10. Battle of Marne 
Battle of the Aisne 
Fall of Antwerp 
Race for the Sea 
Battles of Yser and Ypres 
1915 

Battles in Flanders 



1916 
Battle of Jutland 
Rumania enters war 
Negotiations between United 

States and Germany over 

submarines 

1917 
Ruthless submarine warfare 
Revolution in Russia 
America enters war 



1916 

Attacks on Verdun 

Repulse of Germans at Verdun 

The Somme campaign 

1917 
German withdrawal to "Hin- 
denburg line" 



1918 
Versailles conference and coun- 
cil 
Union of allied armies 
Bulgaria withdraws 



1918 
Battle of Picardy 
Third battle of Ypres 
Soissons-Reims drive 
Great allied victories Reims to 

North Sea. 
American victories in Lorraine 

and Champagne 



THE GREAT WAR 



607 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
Eastern Europe 
1914 



Rest of World 
1914 



Russians in East Prussia and 

Galicia 
German invasions of Russia 

and Poland 



America neutral 

Japan seizes Kiao-chau 
Britain seizes German colonies 
in South Pacific and Africa 



1915 
Galician campaign 
Lower Vistula campaign 
Capture of Warsaw 
Conquest of Serbia 

1916 
Brusiioff's drive 
Conquest of Rumania 



1915 

Gallipoli (Dardanelles cam- 
paign) 

Italy enters war 

First Mesopotamian campaign 
1916 

Campaign in northern Italy 
and Istria 

Campaigns in Mesopotamia 
and East Africa 



1917 
Disbandment of armies on this 
front 



1918 
Formation of a new ' ' Eastern 

front ' ' by Germany 
Victories of Allies in Serbia 

and Bulgaria 



1917 
of German 



East 



Conquest 

Africa 
Capture of Bagdad 
Italian withdrawal to Piave 
Capture of Jerusalem 

1918 
Gains over U-boats 
Italian victory on Piave 
Huge American army in 

France 
Capture of Turkish armies in 

Palestine 



608 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Beginnings 
diplomatic 
and mili- 
tary. 



Campaigns 
outside of 
France. 



453. Summary. — Before 1914 the peace of Europe 
was threatened, and Germany had been prepared care- 
fully for war. Other nations had increased the size of 
their armies. After the crown prince of Austria was 
murdered, the Germans believed that assassination an 
excellent excuse for war, and Austria demanded of Serbia 
many things which the Serbians could not grant. In 
spite of Great Britain's efforts to keep peace, Austria 
declared war on Serbia, Russia began to mobilize her 
troops against Austria, and Germany insisted upon com- 
plete submission to Austria or a general war. The time 
seemed propitious to Germany, because she was ready, 
and all her enemies were in trouble. On the second of 
August, 1914, she invaded Luxemburg, a neutral state, 
and on the fourth, she violated the neutrality of Belgium. 
Thereupon Great Britain followed France and Russia, upon 
which Germany had already declared war. The Germans 
went through Belgium, because it was by far the easiest 
route to Paris, and they wished to strike quickly and hard 
in France, and, after crushing her, turn upon Russia. 
The Belgians opposed their passage through that country, 
and the Germans in return destroyed cities, murdered 
women and children, and in other ways behaved like 
Huns. The combined forces of Belgians, British, and 
French could not stop the German drive until the invaders 
reached the southern side of the Marne valley. By 
outflanking the German right wing and piercing their 
center, the Allies drove the Germans back to the line of 
the Aisne river. 

By invading East Prussia and Galicia, the Russians 
drew off a good-sized German army from the western 
front, but were themselves driven back. In the summer 
of 1915, German forces from the north and south captured 
Warsaw, capital of Poland, and advanced eastward from 
the Vistula river to a line running from Riga south almost 



THE GREAT WAR 609 

to Rumania. Austria tried to conquer Serbia at the begin- 
ning, but failed. Later, after Turkey and Bulgaria had 
come into the war, she succeeded. When Rumania joined 
the Allies in 1916 she was overrun, for the Russians did not 
help. The Italians, in order to regain territory held by 
Austrians, made war on Austria in 1915. Their early ad- 
vance was checked, and they were driven back in 1917 to 
the Piave river, where they later won a great victory. 
Near the Sea of Galilee two Turkish armies were captured. 
All German colonies in the Far East and Pacific were taken 
by Japan, and her African colonies were conquered by 
Great Britain. British forces advanced beyond Bagdad to 
the Caspian Sea and beyond Jerusalem in Palestine. 

Because of British blockades, and German submarine America's 
warfare, our neutral commerce was involved from the f ntraI ^ ce 

. . . ln to the 

beginning. After the Lusitania was sunk in May, 1915, war. 
we offered Germany every chance to give satisfaction, 
but she put us off with false promises, until ready for 
a new ruthless submarine campaign, and until intrigues 
against America had been worked out. On April 6, 1917, 
war was declared against Germany, and later against 
Austria. From the beginning, an army was recruited 
partly by voluntary enlistment, but chiefly by draft. 
The President was given practically dictatorial power 
in controlling the government during the war. 

In 1916 the Germans under their crown prince made a The west- 
ghastly attempt to capture Verdun, the key and center e ™ fr< ?gi 5 
of the allied position. This failed. The Germans' attack 
was stopped in part by British and French drives in the 
Somme valley, and by Brusiloff's drive in Galicia. Fight- 
ing on the western front in 1917 was favorable to the 
Allies. On March 21, 1918, the Germans started a series 
of drives to reach Paris or to sever railroad connections 
between Paris and the English Channel. After appalling 
losses they pushed back the allied lines in Picardy, south 
2r 



610 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

of Ypres, and between Soissons and Reims. On July 18 

the Allies assumed the offensive, quickly regained all land 

. lost to the Germans in the spring, and forced German 

withdrawal from northeastern France and from Belgium. 

Thereafter the defeat of Germany and the end of the war. 

were simply a matter of time. 

oi YIGI ni jfojsd nsvhb 

General References 

Committee on Public Information, The War Cyclopedia. 
n y;Harding, The Study of the Great War. linofoo iUSiinoQ 11 A 

Nida, Story of the World War for Young People. /IKC Tf>X yd 

International Encyclopedia under "War in Europe," and In- 
ternational Year Book, 19 16-. 

The American Year Book, 19 14-, "The European War." 

Davis, Handbook of Northern France. 

Johnston,, Topography and Strategy of the War.' :l . 
5 powers,; The Things Men Fighfcgofc 9 

Allen, Whitehead, and Chadwick, The Great War. 

Belloc, A General Sketch of the European War. 

Reynolds et al. (ed.), Cottier's, The Story of the Great War. 

The New York Times, Current History, 1914-. 

Simonds, History of the World W ar. ;i9fflA teniJBgB 

Beck, The Evidence in the Case. . . ... Q-iBiodb asw i&W 

Headlam, The History of Twelve Days. 

Collected Documents relating to the Outbreak of the European 
War rueiAo ctjjo riaiamov \ti xlH&q 

oq iBnotei-jib vIl,6oito.Biq novrg 8-bw tnsbiasiSl 9dT 
.iBW dd$ §m oplcs -yo§ 9dl §nil(oiinoo ni 
The Ultimatum of Austria to Serbia: Beck, The Evi- 
dence in the Case, 31-60; Gibbons, The New. Map of Europe., 
"--■■ - 368-385; Seymour, The Diplomatic. Background of the War, 

245^259; Headlam, The History of Twelve Days, 3-39 ; Collected 
Documents, 1-19, 147-167, 370-390, 424, 448-461. 

,., Violation of Belgian Neutrality : Seymour, The: Diplo- 
matic Background of the War, 278-287 ; ; Allen, The Great War ; 
Harding, The Study of the Great War, 18-20 ; Headlam, The 
History of Twelve Days, 346-389; Collected Documents, 95, 
107-109, 300-367, 436-439. 

The Battle of the Marne : International Encyclopedia, 
Vol. 23, 341-344; Harding, The Study of the Great War, 25-29;: 



THE GREAT WAR 611 

Allen, et al., The Great War, III, Ch. VII ; Johnston, Topography 
and Strategy of the War, 31-38 ; Collier's Story of the Great War, 
II, 87-130; Perris, Campaign of 1914 in France and Belgium, 
147-178. 

How the War Came to America : Committee on Public 
Information, How the War Came to America, The War Message 
and the Facts behind It, The President's Flag Day Address, etc. ; 
The American Year Book (1914) 100-105, (1915) 1-69, (1916) 
55-79, (1917) 19-26; International Encyclopedia, Vol. 23, 384- 
392 ; International Year Book (1916) 746-754, (1917) 744, 795, 
707-715. 

German Atrocities : Committee on Public Information, 
German War Practices ; Toynbee, The German Terror in Belgium 
and The German Terror in France; Bryce et al., On Belgian 
Atrocities; Morgan, German Atrocities, an Official Investigation. 

Studies 

1. Germany's responsibility for the war. Lichnowsky's 
Memoir in Current History, May, 1918, xiv-xx. 

2. The Potsdam conference and its effect. Morgenthau, 
H., in World's Work, 36 (1918), 170-178. 

3. Great Britain enters the war. Gibbons, The New Map of 
Europe, 399-412. 

4. German atrocities from the first day in Belgium. Toyn- 
bee, The German Terror in Belgium, 23-51. 

5. Louvain. Toynbee, The German Terror in Belgium, 89-160. 

6. Why Germany invaded France through Belgium. John- 
ston, Topography and Strategy of the War, 1-19. 

7. The eastern half of the Paris basin. Davis, Handbook 
of Northern France, 43-48. 

8. The retreat from Mons to the Marne. Perris, Campaign 
of 1914 in France and Belgium, 109-124. 

9. The race to the sea. Allen et al., The Great War, III, 199- 
210. 

10. Stopping the first German drive on the channel ports. 
Simonds, The History of the World War, I, 167-170. 

11. Brusiloff's great drive. Simonds, F.,in Review of Reviews, 
54 (1916), 56-64. 

12. The defense of Verdun. Simonds, F., in Review of Reviews, 
54 (1916), 559-569. 

13. 1917 Campaign in Italy. Littlefield, W., in Current History, 
7, part 1, (1917), 393-398. 



612 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

14. Trench warfare. World's Work, 33 (1917), 602-622. 

15. The tanks. Swinton, E. D., in World's Work, 34 (1917), 
569-576. 

16. How the war came to America. Wilson, The War Mes- 
sage and the Facts behind It. 

17. Shipbuilding to win the war. Hungerford, E., in Every- 
body's, 37 (1917), 114-125. 

18. Our first army cantonments. National Geographic Mag- 
azine, 32 (1917), 421-476. 

19. Marshal Foch. Requin, E., in World's Work, 36 (1918), 
242-245. 

Questions 

1. Explain as clearly as possible why Germany wanted war 
in 1913 and 1914. To what extent had Germany prepared for 
maintenance of her prestige by force? Why were conditions 
exceedingly favorable for her the last of July, 1914? 

2. Why was the assassination of Ferdinand an excuse rather 
than a reason for war? Show how events of the last week of 
July, 1914, proved that Germany was determined to rule or ruin. 
Give a clear summary of the events from July 23 to August 4. 
Show that Great Britain did her best to maintain peace and 
that Germany did the opposite. 

3. Describe the geography of northeastern France, giving 
approximate location of the more important series of hills or 
bluffs facing eastward. Show how the river canyons affect 
the progress of armies. Could anybody but a German possibly 
consider the invasion of Belgium as due to "dire necessity"? 
Where did the Belgians and their friends try to delay the Ger- 
mans? Give some slight idea of how the Germans treated the 
Belgian people. 

4. Why did not Joffre mass his men along the Belgian 
border or along the line of the Aisne to stop the Germans? 
Show how the left wing of the allied army tried to encircle the 
right wing of the Germans and force the invaders back. Show 
how Foch penetrated the center of the German line and threw 
them back in confusion. 

5. What was the importance of the Russian invasions of 
East Prussia and Galicia in August, 1914? How did the Ger- 
mans overrun Poland, and what good did their advance into 
western Russia do them? Show on the map what Brusiloff 
regained. Was it possible for Serbia, surrounded by enemies, 



THE GREAT WAR 613 

to make war successfully ? To what extent was the ' ' conquest ' ' 
of Rumania due to treachery? Compare Italian plans for 
"Italia Irredenta" (§ 280) with Italy's aims in the Great War. 
Why were the Italians forced to withdraw to the Piave river? 
Point out the location of all places mentioned in § 443. 

6. Explain some of the problems of neutral trade during the 
early years of the war. What is or was the German policy of 
" f rightfulness " ? Why should not war have been declared 
immediately after the sinking of the Lusitania? Describe 
the negotiations over the Lusitania and other submarine 
problems. 

7. Summarize America's reasons for entering the war, not- 
ing those which grew out of neutral trade, those due to German 
interference with America in other ways, and those due to Ger- 
many's policy in Europe. Quote the closing clause of our dec- 
laration of war. 

8. Why did the United States resort to a selective draft 
rather than make use entirely of voluntary enlistment? How 
many cantonments are there now in the United States ? What 
one is nearest to your home ? Name at least three different means 
for raising money to finance the war. Give some idea of how 
much has been raised to the present time. Explain the general 
character of war taxes in use now. 

9. Describe the topography of the region around Verdun. 
What was the importance of Verdun from a military point of 
view? What would have been the moral effect of the capture 
of the place? Compare the gains made by the Allies in 1916 and 
1917 in the Somme region with the territory in Picardy temporarily 
occupied by the Germans in 1918. Compare the German line 
July 1, 1918, with the line of the farthest German advance, Sep- 
tember 8, 1914. 

10. How many American troops are in France at the present 
time? What parts of the western front are held exclusively 
by Americans ; by British ; by French troops ? Give the loca- 
tion of the line between the opposing forces at the present time, 
and compare with those given on the map opposite page 599. 

11. What has the American nation done to win the war? 
Give some idea of the food problem during the first years of the 
war ; at the present time. Compare the excess of the American 
shipbuilding program with the decline of the U-boat activity, 
in the years from 1916 to the present time. 



PART V 

EUROPE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



615 



616 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 




CHAPTER XXIII 
THE PEOPLE AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS 1 

Spread of Popular Government 

454. Written Constitutions. — Until the close of the General 
eighteenth century written constitutions were unknown. ^Jeigh™ 
There were three good reasons for this : first, a constitu- eenth cen- 
tion is the fundamental law of a self-governing nation ; tury " 
secondly, the written constitution is an American product ; 
and thirdly, the written constitution has little importance 
except as the basis of a democratic government. Since 
it was at the beginning distinctly an American institu- 
tion and since the United States was not independent 
until 1776, written constitutions in the modern sense 
were used first by the American states after 1776 and by 
the American nation after 1781. No European people 
was in any real sense self-governing until comparatively 
modern times ; consequently it needed no written con- 
stitution. The French people, after the third estate in 
1789 organized itself into a national assembly, created 
the first written constitution known to Europe (§ 130). 

Most of the nations of Europe have become fairly European 

democratic ; as a result most of them have some form of constitu- 
tions in 
written constitution. In fact in 1914 Russia was the 1914. 

only important country which did not have a constitu- 
tion. European constitutions are not necessarily, like 
those of America, embodied in a single document ; and in 
many cases European constitutions are quite undemocratic. 

1 Unless otherwise specified, all statements in Part V apply only to con- 
ditions before 1914. 

617 



618 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Compari- 
son of 
European 
and Ameri- 
can consti- 
tutions. 



The upper 
houses. 



The lower 
or popularly 
elected 
houses. 



That of Prussia, for example, was granted by the Prussian 
king in 1850 and is an exceedingly conservative and illib- 
eral document. The constitution of Great Britain is the 
best example of one that is called unwritten (§ 356). 

Sometimes European constitutions are granted by mon- 
archs, and in most other cases they are made by the 
regular national parliaments. In America, on the con- 
trary, constitutions are always made by special constitu- 
tional conventions. European constitutions are much less 
important than our American constitutions, chiefly be- 
cause the European countries have not become so demo- 
cratic as the United States. 

At present practically all countries of Europe have national 
parliaments modeled after that of England. That is, these 
parliaments are made up of two houses. The members 
of the upper house ordinarily come from the upper classes, 
usually nobles, with possibly some higher clergy. In 
general the members of these Houses of Lords, or Senates, 
are selected for a long term. The bodies are ordinarily 
considerably smaller than the lower houses. They usually 
have advisory duties and frequently have some judicial 
powers which are not possessed by the other chamber. 

The lower houses of these national parliaments are 
usually bodies somewhat larger than our national House 
of Representatives. Their members may be chosen for 
a period of four years, but ordinarily are elected for an 
indefinite term, since the lower house may be dissolved 
by the monarch, or by the ministry, or by the upper 
house. They are usually elected by popular vote, and 
the qualifications of voters will be described later (§ 457). 
They frequently have more control of lawmaking and 
finance than is possessed by the upper chamber. 

In Europe, when the people rule at all, they rule through 
a system which is known as parliamentary, or ministerial, 
or cabinet, or responsible government. The system, and 




619 



620 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Use of 
ministerial 
or respon- 
sible gov- 
ernment. 



Limited 
share of 
people in 
local affairs. 



Contrast 
between 
western and 
eastern 
Europe. 



Voters in 
America 
and in 
Europe. 



the names were developed in England (§ 359). If a 
country has a national parliament and has also a min- 
istry which is the real executive of its national government, 
it does not have responsible government unless its min- 
istry is responsible to the parliament, that is, to one 
house of parliament, usually the lower. 1 

456. Local Self-government. — One would expect that 
the people would have a larger share in local government 
than in their national government. In general, however, 
it might be said that the people of most European coun- 
tries do not enjoy a large share of local self-government. 
One reason for this is that the countries as a rule are 
comparatively small, and their governments are rather 
highly centralized, that is, the general governments 
have far more power than the local governments, and 
the general governments have considerable authority 
over local administrative officials. 

Of course, in southern and eastern Europe, there is 
far less autonomy than in either France or Great Britain. 
In the first place, the local officials are usually selected 
by higher officials ; and in the second place, the powers 
which the local officials are allowed to exercise are limited 
in extent. Whereas police systems and courts of even 
the small communities are integral parts of the complete 
scheme of state police or of a general judiciary, each vil- 
lage, town, city, and county of at least Switzerland, 
England, and France is allowed to select the members 
of the councils which make local ordinances for their own 
use. 

457. Suffrage in Europe — Past and Present. — In 
America the right to vote is a privilege controlled by the 
states, not by the national government. At the present 



1 England has parliamentary government in the truest possible sense. 
The degree of "responsible" government developed in other countries 
is shown by the map on page 619. 



SPREAD OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT 621 



time in more than one half of the states only men over 
twenty-one are allowed to vote. In the other states the 
elective franchise, that is the right to vote, is conferred 
upon women as well as men. Since Europe is less demo- 
cratic than America, we should naturally expect that- 
universal manhood suffrage is not so common as in America. 
We should expect further that woman suffrage has made 
less progress in the old world than in the new. We find 
both of these to be the case. 

Universal suffrage is in use to-day in Great Britain, 
and manhood suffrage in France and in twelve other 



Changes in 
the elective 
franchise. 




Lisbon, the Capital of the Republic of Portugal 



less important countries. Moreover, practically man- 
hood suffrage is now exercised in most other Euro- 
pean states. If we go back even a quarter of a century, 
however, we shall find that most of the countries 
which now have manhood suffrage at that time allowed 
only a chosen few to vote. We have already noted 
the important extensions of the franchise in Great 



622 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Woman 
suffrage in 
Europe. 



Republics 
and democ- 



Reasons for 
and charac- 
ter of 
democracy 
in Switzer- 
land. 



Britain, France, Germany, 1 Austria, England, and 
Russia. 

Before 1900 women were not allowed to vote anywhere 
in Europe. In 1906 the women in Finland were permitted 
to elect members of the Finnish parliament and to sit. 
in that body. The next year Norway conferred the 
franchise on women who owned property. Since the war 
broke out, woman suffrage has been granted in Denmark 
and in Great Britain (§ 357) . 

458. Direct Popular Government, Especially in Switzer- 
land. — In 1914 there were five republics in Europe : France, 
Switzerland, Portugal, An-dor'ra, and San Ma-ri'no, 
the last two of which are of no importance whatever. A 
republic is sometimes called a representative democracy, 
because the people vote for representatives who rule in 
their stead. If a republic is large or the task of govern- 
ing complex, it is absolutely necessary that the people 
should rule indirectly through their representatives. 
If it is small it may be a true democracy, that is, ruled di- 
rectly by the people. 

Switzerland has been a republic for centuries, and is 
always considered the best example of a country which 
is really self-governing. One reason for this is the fact 
that Switzerland is mountainous, and although small 
itself — about a third the size of the state of New 
York — is a confederation of twenty-two cantons, each 
with an average area of only 700 square miles and an 
average population of 150,000. Each of these cantons, 
and the confederation as a whole, has a constitution which, 
like the American state constitutions, can be changed 
only with the consent of the people. 

Ever since the Swiss have had constitutions, they have 



1 In Germany only members of the unimportant imperial Reichstag 
are elected by manhood suffrage. In all other elections the franchise 
is limited. 



SPREAD OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT 623 

used the referendum, as we do in our American states, for Forms of 

the popular ratification either of complete constitutions g^menUn 

or of separate constitutional amendments. In most of Switzer- 

the cantons, and for the confederation, constitutional l ' 



.#Jl 



l ':: . ' '. : 





■ Sflilfe^g^^, HouSE) Berne 
yd gnoi v/orf ,mo 

amendments and laws may be proposed through the initia- 
tive, and must be acted upon either by the councils or by 
the people themselves in the referendum. 

459. Protection of Rights and Administration of Civil rights 
Justice. — There is no necessary connection between the ^^hTfact 
right of the people to -elect their officials and the enjoy- 
ment by those people of the right to life, liberty, and 
property. Yet those of us who have made a study of 
the history of past centuries know that, so far as the com- 
mon people are concerned, there has been a close con- 
nection between the two. The Roman citizen in the 
days of Augustus may have had just as many civil rights 
as the western European of the twentieth century. But 
nineteen centuries ago only a few persons enjoyed full 
rights of Roman citizenship, and not very many others 
had even partial rights, whereas to-day most persons 



624 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Limitations 
on exercise 
of civil 
rights on 
the Conti- 
nent of 
Europe. 



Trials and 
administra- 
tion of jus- 
tice on the 
Continent. 



living within a country and subject to its laws are citizens 
and enjoy whatever rights citizens of that country may 
have. Since most of the European countries have con- 
stitutions, most of the constitutions mention general rights, 
such as those to life, liberty, and property, which all 
citizens are supposed to possess. They also provide courts 
and other means for the protection of those rights. 

If, however, we examine either the list of rights or 
the means by which those rights are safeguarded, we 
find a vast difference between the European scheme and 
the American plan. For example, freedom of speech 
and of the press is enjoyed in Great Britain as in America, 
but on the Continent, even in times of peace, no person 
is allowed to say what he thinks or write what he pleases, 
unless the government agrees. In central and southern 
and eastern Europe a person may have freedom of move- 
ment, and may go from one place to another, but every 
night he is obliged to fill out a blank telling who he is, 
what his business is, where he came from, how long he 
intends to stay, and where he is going. In other words, 
the police keep very careful track of every one, and super- 
vise him and his affairs carefully and constantly. In 
America we should not consider ourselves free if we were 
subject to such police surveillance. 

Except in parts of eastern or southern Europe, trials 
are held openly and witnesses are not coerced. The 
jury system for the trial of criminals is in use in Great 
Britain, France, Belgium, and Switzerland, and some 
parts of Germany, but is practically unknown in most 
of Europe. Most accused persons are therefore tried 
by a bench of judges. Throughout Europe the courts 
are so anxious to uphold the authority of their govern- 
ments that they do not give the citizen the benefit of 
the doubt if the case, civil or criminal, is one of the state 
versus the citizen. 



GOVERNMENT OF EUROPEAN CITIES 625 



Government of European Cities 

460. European Cities : Growth and Characteristics. Growth of 
— The modern city, like democracy, is a product of S™ pean 
the last century. In medieval times there were many 
interesting and important European towns whose 
commerce was in some cases rather extensive, but cities 

did not grow rapidly until the Industrial Revolution. 
With the recent expansion of industry and commerce, 
cities have developed during the last century, and 
particularly during the last half century, with marvelous 
rapidity. 

In Europe the cities are small in area. Frequently the Congestion 
modern European city has been built on the site of an old and wmd ~ 

ing streets. 

walled town. Withm the walls the streets were neces- 
sarily narrow and almost invariably crooked. Since 
space was at a premium, land was expensive and build- 
ings were usually connected and of many stories. In 
early modern times there was less danger of marauders, 
and more people made their homes outside the city walls. 
In order, however, to be near their business, it was neces- 
sary to live as close as possible to the center of the city. 

The city man is usually a worker in a factory or a Occupations 
shop. He is not interested in land, nor is he tied to land and c . h f: r " 

L 7 actenstics 

in any way. As a consequence, in associating with of the city 
hundreds of his fellows, he discusses his problems, grum- man * 
bles at his lot, and demands changes. The cities are 
therefore the strongholds of democracy and the hot- 
beds of socialism. In the cities are developing those new 
political ideas which are modernizing Europe. 

461. Housing and Transportation Problems. — Be- Extreme 
cause of the great value of land in and near European con / estlon 

...,,. . . ano - poor 

cities, the housing problem is of even greater impor- housing 
tance than it is in America. In practically all cities condltlons - 
of Europe, the congestion in districts occupied by the 

2s 



626 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Transpor- 
tation 
service amd 
rates. 



The Muni- 
cipal Act 
of 1835. 



poorer classes is appalling. German cities have been con- 
sidered progressive ; yet more than two thirds of the 
people in Berlin, Bres'lau, and Dres'den live in dwellings 
of either one or two rooms. Almost as large a percentage 
of the inhabitants of Glas'gow live in small tenements. 
In East London conditions are very bad indeed. In 
Paris, on account of the old tax upon doors and windows, 
it is said that in the nineteenth century one quarter of 
the people slept in darkened rooms, which had no win- 
dows. In general, therefore, it may be said that the con- 
ditions in the poorer quarters of the average European 
city are much worse than those under which the tene- 
ment dweller of the American slums is obliged to live. 

European cities sometimes give adequate transporta- 
tion to the suburbs, but usually their car systems and 
coaches have shorter routes than those of the average 
American street car. Rates are therefore lower than 
in our cities, frequently, as in Glasgow, being a little 
less than one penny (two cents) per ride. The rate varies 
with the distance, however. Especially low rates are 
given to workmen and to children, and the state rail- 
roads in some countries, notably in Belgium, charge 
very little for transporting workmen from their country 
homes to city factories. By these means the congestion 
in these crowded European .cities is relieved somewhat, 
but the problem is at least as serious as it is anywhere in 
America. In Europe the straphanger is practically un- 
known, for by law persons are not allowed to stand in 
busses or street cars. 

462. Government of English Cities. — The most pro- 
gressive European cities are better governed than those 
of America. This has been particularly true of the 
cities in Great Britain. Before the Municipal Corpo- 
rations Act of 1835 (§ 335) English cities were governed 
in many different ways, but the management of their 



GOVERNMENT OF EUROPEAN CITIES 627 

affairs was alike in one respect ; almost without exception 
it was unsatisfactory. The Act of 1835 is still the basis 
of the government of English cities ; according to it, 
Parliament x grants the charters and controls both the or- 
ganization of the government and the powers exercised 
by the municipal authorities. 

The British cities are ruled by large councils; the 
council of London numbers 118 and that of Glasgow 75. 




Organiza- 
tion of 
English 
city govern- 
ment. 



Municipal Buildings, Glasgow 



The municipal council is made up of two groups, one 
consisting of councilmen, elected by the rate-payers of 
the city from wards or comparatively small districts, for 
a period of three years each. The second group con- 
sists of aldermen, ordinarily one third as numerous as the 
councilmen, chosen for a period of six years by the coun- 
cilors, usually from their own number. The whole 
council sits as one body and elects a mayor for a term of 

1 This is done through the Local Government Board. 



628 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Municipal 
administra- 
tion in 
Great 
Britain. 



Finances of 

British 

cities. 



Organiza- 
tion of 
municipal 
govern- 
ment in 
Germany. 



Municipal 
activities in 
Germany. 



one year and appoints from its own number committees 
which do most of the business of governing the city. 

The mayor is little more than the social head of the 
city, for he has no especially important powers or duties. 
Most of the departments of the city administration are 
supervised by trained experts, who were not necessarily, 
before appointment, residents of the city in which they 
work. 

Since the British city is controlled in the last analysis 
by the rate-payers, as a rule expenditures are reduced to 
a minimum in order that taxes shall be low. The British 
cities are distinguished far more than those of America 
by " municipal trading," that is, municipal ownership of 
utilities such as water, transportation, electric lighting, 
and gas. 

463. Government of Other European Cities. — The 
German city, like cities across the North Sea, usually has 
a large council. The councilors are elected for a term of 
six years in Prussia, and from three to nine years in 
other German states. A German city is not really gov- 
erned by its council, because the work of administering 
municipal affairs is left to a body called the magistrate 
made up of from ten to forty men, usually experts, who 
control different administrative departments. The most 
distinguished official of a German city is a burgomaster. 
His position is one of influence rather than simply of 
authority. 

German cities far more than British cities are inter- 
ested in municipal activities such as publicly owned water 
plants, street railways, electric lighting plants, markets, 
slaughterhouses, baths, pawn shops, and other utilities. 
This is natural because as a country Germany is dis- 
tinguished for collective action, and the German citizen 
is far more accustomed than the American to have things 
done for him by the state or local government. 



GOVERNMENT OF EUROPEAN CITIES 629 

As we noted above (§ 146), the government of France Thegovem- 
is more highly centralized than that of other countries. ^ ent £ f 
In consequence not only is French municipal government cities, 
controlled by the French parliament as fully as that 
of British cities is controlled by the British Parlia- 
ment, but in addition the central government of France 
supervises the administration of municipal affairs far 
more than the British central authorities do those of 
British cities. For example, the members of the French 
councils are elected by popular vote, and they in turn 
elect their mayors, but a French mayor must be approved 
by the central government before he may take office. 
To be sure, under the present French republic it is cus- 
tomary to allow the councils absolutely free choice in 
the election of mayors. French cities are less interested 
in municipal ownership than are cities in Great Britain 
or Germany. In fact, the administration of municipal 
affairs in the French republic is somewhat similar to that 
of American cities. 

464. City Finances. — Any one who has been in Eu- General, 
rope realizes that in all businesses, including government, 
the expenditure of money is watched much more care- 
fully than it is in America. One is not surprised, there- 
fore, to learn that the European city manages its affairs 
with a smaller per capita expenditure than is found in 
most cities in the United States. 

The average American city depends for its revenue British and 
chiefly upon the general property tax, which is a tax 
upon land and its improvement, and to a slight extent 
on personal property. The average British city depends 
to a very large extent upon a house tax; the tax amounts 
to as much as a quarter or a third of the rental of a house, 
apartment, or lodging, and is paid by the tenant. Most 
of the larger British cities secure a considerable gross 
revenue and a fair net revenue from municipal trading. 

■ 



German 
cities. 



630 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

The German city pays about one half its expenses from 
an income tax, levied upon all incomes in excess of $214 
a year. The second item in the revenues of German cities 
is likely to be a real estate tax. 
French The French c {ty } like the American, is financed very 

largely by a property tax. Many French cities and 
practically all cities of southern and eastern Europe re- 
tain the old medieval octroi customs duty, levied at the 
cities' gates. Each traveler who enters those cities 
must have his luggage examined, and inspectors go 
through every basket carried in on street cars and ex- 
amine the contents of every cart which enters the cities' 
portals. 

Government Ownership 

Private and 465. State Ownership of Railways. — In the United 
public States railways have been constructed by private capital 

ownership " . 

of railways and before 1918 were managed by great private cor- 
m Europe, porations. England uses a system of private ownership 
and management somewhat like our own before 1918, but 
with very much more rigid supervision of new work and 
of railway management. In France a plan of public 
supervision is followed for most of the railways of the 
country, which are privately owned ; but a provision is 
made that, by the time the present long-time charters 
run out, the government shall own all of the railways. 
It now owns one system in southwestern France. In 
Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Russia, and Ger- 
many most of the railways are now owned and managed 
by the state. 
Objects and The railways of Italy are fairly well managed, but the 
methods on serv ice is less satisfactory in that country than in Switzer- 
ways. land and Austria. Service has been prompt in Ger- 

many, because the railways have been run on a military 
basis, and the trainmen are fined if the trains are late. 



GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP 631 

Rates in Germany have not been low. The reason for 

this is obvious ; the German governments have sought 

to make money rather than to reduce fares. Particularly 

in Germany and Russia the railways have been used as a 

means of promoting the work of the state. In time of peace the 

rates are arranged for the purpose of aiding those businesses 

which the government wishes to help (§ 300) ; in time of war 

the transportation of troops and munitions takes precedence 

of all other considerations. 

Passenger fares are often lower than in this country, Comparison 

and passenger service is frequently superior to ours ; but of railwa y 

freight service has not been developed in Europe as it Europe 

has in the United States, and freight rates are usually f nd Amer ~ 

' & J ica. 

higher there than here. There is a simple explanation 
for these two apparently contradictory facts. First, 
European peoples live close together and therefore fewer 
trains, on shorter runs, are necessary for the same num- 
ber of passengers. Secondly, America is a country of 
great distances, and consequently more freight is car- 
ried farther, therefore at a less cost per ton-mile, than 
in Europe. 

466. State Ownership of Forests and Other Utilities. Other 
— Ownership by states as distinct from cities is chiefly o^ n e|} y 
ownership of means of transportation, canals, docks, or means of 
other harbor improvements, in addition to railways. A j^ s P° rta " 
fair amount of revenue is usually obtained by European 
governments from these sources, and considerable aid is 
given to commerce by these means. Public canals have 
been constructed more extensively in France and in 
western Germany than elsewhere. Service rather than 
revenue is the chief object of these undertakings. 

Germany and Russia are the only important countries Public 
that have retained large public forests. In both of these °^^™p 
countries over one half of all the forest lands are owned and mines. 
by the state. In some countries, particularly Prussia, 



632 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Municipal 
ownership 
in America. 



mines are owned by the state as they were by Athens, 
Carthage, and some of the medieval countries. Natu- 
rally the cost of operating the mines is small compared 
with the sums obtained from the sale of minerals. In 
the United States we have no publicly owned mines, but, 
since the conservation movement began a few years ago, 
we no longer give away or sell at absurdly low prices our 
valuable public mineral resources or forests. 

467. Municipal Ownership. — As indicated above, 
(§ 461) municipal ownership is better developed in Eu- 




Cars on Municipal Railway in a British City 



rope than in this country. Most large American cities 
now own and manage their own water systems. A fair 
percentage of our smaller cities own plants which manu- 
facture and distribute electricity, but we have practically 
no examples of municipal ownership of street railways, 
and very few public gas works. 



GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP 633 

Contrast with this the situation in Europe! In Great Deveiop- 
Britain the water supply of several of the larger cities is me ^ ° f Y 
still in private hands and gas is furnished by private ownership 
parties, but almost all large cities provide themselves mEur °P e - 
with electricity, and more than four out of every five 
own their own street railways. Public baths and public 
markets are institutions found in practically all cities in 
the British Isles and on the Continent. 

Although many utilities are publicly owned in Ger- Some public 
many, most of the street railways in the German Empire continental 
are still managed by private parties. Many European cities, 
seaports own their docks, unless they are owned by the 
state. The Netherland cities, particularly Antwerp and 
Am'ster-dam, the French port of Marseilles, Bar-ce-lo'na in 
Spain, and Gen-o'a in Italy are famous for their docks and 
other harbor improvements. 

468. The Growth of Socialism. — Socialism, as the Nature and 
term is common^ used, refers to collective control by the ^eiopment 
whole people of land and the instruments of production, of socialism. 
also control of production itself and of the distribution 
among the members of the society of the goods that are 
produced. Modern socialism is like many other subjects 
which we have considered in this chapter and shall con- 
sider in the next two, in that it is a product of the last 
century and a half. 1 

It is a notable fact that in countries which have con- Socialism, 
siderable popular government and a large degree of anTpoliti- 
personal freedom, socialism has not thrived. We think cai, in 
of Germany as preeminently the home of European social- erman y- 

1 Among the leaders of English socialism was Owen, a cotton manu- 
facturer who worked unceasingly for the betterment of his employees 
and their families. Most of the early continental socialists were French 
philosophers. We have already noted that Louis Blanc tried to estab- 
lish in France at the time of the Revolution of 1848 national workshops 
(§ 218), giving every man a right to work. Socialism has made con- 
siderable progress in France, particularly among the labor unionists who 
believe in syndicalism (§ 482). 



634 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Character 
of socialism 
elsewhere in 
Europe. 



ism, and Karl Marx is sometimes called the founder of 
modern socialism. Like some other reform philosophers, 
Marx believed that wealth is created solely by labor. He 
sought to organize workers first in Germany, and after- 
ward in other countries. 1 Lassalle was even more in- 
fluential than Marx in organizing a socialist association 
in Germany, and when in 1875 the two socialist organ- 
izations of Marx and Lassalle were combined, the present 
Social Democratic party of Germany (§ 293) was formed. 
This body, comprising probably fewer than a million men, 
is considered the world's best example of highly organized 
and centralized association, for its control of its mem- 
bers is practically absolute. In government the Ger- 
man socialists stand for popular participation in the 
ruling of Germany, for reforms in the government itself, 
and for reform legislation. So harmful are all these 
ideas to the ruling class of Germany that, to a junker, 
the socialist has been practically guilty of treason. 

In Russia, since the industrial revolution, there have 
been numerous socialist groups which have desired 
economic and political reforms. The groups are nu- 
merous and their plans of reform differ widely. Most of 
them are agreed in asking a further division among the 
peasants of land which belonged to nobles or the royal 
family. They are also fairly well agreed in their dislike 
of the capitalist classes. Beyond that, their plans have 
little in common. In southern Europe socialism has made 
less progress than elsewhere. It can be seen from this brief 
survey that, in continental Europe, socialism is radical and 
to some extent revolutionary, but it is even more closely 
identified with the attempt to secure democracy and give 
the proletarian some share in his own government. 

1 It is interesting to notice that considerably more than three fourths 
of the popular vote in Germany that has been polled by socialist candi- 
dates has been cast by liberal Germans who have not been identified 
with the Socialist party itself. 



PEOPLE AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS 635 

General References 

Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, 139-212. 
Wilson, The State. 

Burgess, The Reconciliation of Government and Liberty. 
Lowell, Governments of France, Italy, and Germany. 
Lowell, Governments and Parties of Continental Europe. 
Ogg, The Governments of Europe. 

Studies 

1. The constitution of Great Britain. Macy, English Consti- 
tution, 9—16. 

2. Government of the French department. Poincare, How 
France is Governed, 64-71. 

3. Local government in Italy. Ogg, The Governments of 
Europe, 383-386. 

4. The powers of the French city council. Munro, Govern- 
ment of European Cities, 50-61. 

5. City planning in Europe. Pollock and Morgan, Modern 
Cities, 15-40. 

6. The American and the European city — a comparison. 
Howe, European Cities at Work, 345-361. 

7. Municipal railways in British cities. Howe, The British 
City, 82-100. 

8. Government ownership of railways in Europe. Phelps 
(ed.), Government Ownership of Railways (Debaters' Handbook), 
44-47, 57-63, 111-127, 174-194. 

9. The growth of socialism in Europe. Ogg, Social Progress 
in Contemporary Europe, 337-360. 

Questions 

1. What is a written constitution? How is it different from 
an unwritten constitution? Name some differences between 
American constitutions and European written constitutions. 
What is meant by parliamentary or responsible government? 
Why are the upper houses of the European parliaments made up 
of privileged persons? Why are the ministries responsible to 
the lower house, or to the monarch? 

2. Draw a map showing which countries are republics, 
which have responsible government, and which have arbitrary 
rule. On the same map indicate the degree of local popular 
self-government. 



636 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

3. What is the ordinary age limit of voters in Europe? 
Why doesn't universal suffrage mean the same share in govern- 
ment there as here? What is meant by plural voting? Which 
countries to-day have woman's suffrage? 

4. What is meant by direct popular government? Explain 
the initiative, the referendum, and the recall. Compare direct 
government in Switzerland with that in America. 

5. Name some rights which we have under our state govern- 
ment and under the national government. Are many or all 
of those protected in Europe ? What is the difference between 
the American system of courts and the continental? If a per- 
son were accused of crime in Austria, and in France, and in 
Great Britain, and in America, what differences in the method 
of trial would you note? 

6. Why have European cities grown rapidly ? Why are they 
relatively small in area? In what respects are housing condi- 
tions bad? Compare transportation problems and service 
in this country and in Europe. 

7. Compare the organization of the English and continental 
councils. What are the differences between the English mayor, 
the German burgomaster and magistrat, and the French mayor? 
Compare the extent and the success of municipal ownership in 
Europe and America. 

8. Explain the taxes used in this city of ours. Give some 
idea for what objects the revenues are expended. Compare 
our taxes with the British, French, and German municipal taxes. 
Has this city made as many wise investments as the ordinary Euro- 
pean city has made? Are its streets and public buildings as 
well planned? 

9. Why did Europe adopt government ownership of rail- 
roads many years before our American government undertook 
railroad administration? Why are European passenger rates 
lower and European freight rates higher than ours ? 

10. Are most of our canals and harbor improvements publicly 
or privately owned ? Do we have public ownership of any forests ? 
If so, name one. Compare public ownership of mines with the 
coal policy followed in recent years by our national government. 

11. Show that socialism in Europe is different from that in 
America. Explain why European socialism is closely associated 
with democracy and general betterment. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
COMMERCE, INDUSTRY, AND LABOR 

The World's Trade 

469. European Commerce in General. — International Extraordi- 
commerce really did not exist before the Renaissance, opmenTof" 
and the world's trade on a large scale is a nineteenth- nineteenth 
century product. A hundred years ago the total com- ^ade^ 
merce of all countries was in value less than a quarter of 
American exports in the year 1917. By 1870 this had 
increased to ten billion dollars ; and in 1913 it had again ex- 
panded fourfold, for in that year it reached the colossal 
figure of forty billions, or an amount twenty-five hun- 
dred per cent in excess of the total trade of the world a 
century ago. 

Before the Great War, Great Britain had a larger foreign important 
trade than any other country. Imports exceeded ex- ^ounTries^ 1 
ports because Great Britain was compelled to buy abroad 
large quantities of foodstuffs and other commodities, in 
addition to raw materials which she turned into manu- 
factured products. Second of importance in Europe 
was the trade of Germany, which developed with un- 
usual rapidity after the establishment of the German 
Empire in 1871. l Other countries whose commerce was 
important were France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, and 
Russia. 

1 Germany's exports exceeded her imports. Until recent years 
Germany made a business (§ 300) of turning out cheap and frequently 
inferior goods which were sold, particularly in new countries, under the 
trade mark "made in Germany." 

637 



638 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Causes and 
character of 
European 
commercial 
develop- 
ment. 



Partial de- 
pendence of 
Europe on 
rest of 
world for 
food. 



The extraordinary development of European commerce 
is the direct outgrowth of the industrial development 
which began with the Industrial Revolution in England. 
It is possible because the last century has seen a mar- 
velous improvement in means of transportation by land 
and sea. 1 Both Europe and America are covered with a 
network of railroads, which carry passengers at high 
speed and freight at a cost marvelously low compared 
with the charges paid for the transportation of goods in 
ancient times or in the Middle Ages. With the develop- 
ment of surplus capital, Europe has come to specialize 
more and more on industry and commerce, and she imports 
much of her meat and a large part of her supplies of 
grain and other foodstuffs. 

470. The Problem of the Food Supply. — Although 
most food is consumed within the country in which it is 
produced, nevertheless, the trade in foodstuffs is one of 
the most important in volume, and the most important 
in character, of the many involved in international 
trade. Because of their small area and large population, 
European countries, therefore, are compelled to depend 
upon the rest of the world for their supply of food. If 
an agricultural product is bulky, or if it will not stand 
transportation for any considerable distance, it plays a 
very small part in international trade. Maize or Indian 
corn, of which three fourths of the world's supply is 
raised in the United States, and potatoes are good 

1 A vessel of five thousand tons which could cross the Atlantic in three 
weeks was unknown at the time of Waterloo, but vessels far larger, 
which have crossed the Atlantic within less than six days, are no excep- 
tion at the present time. The largest vessel afloat is the Leviathan, 
a steamship of 54,000 tons. It is said that this vessel, originally known 
as the Vaterland, was constructed for use as a transport to carry 
German troops for the conquest of the world ; it is now being used to 
transport the world's troops for the conquest of Germany. One pas- 
senger vessel, the sister of the Lusitania, crossed the Atlantic in 1910 
in four days, ten hours, and forty-one minutes. 



THE WORLD'S TRADE 



639 



examples of foods which are consumed almost entirely 
at home. 1 

At the opposite extreme from potatoes and maize is 
wheat, which might be called the international cereal. It 
is grown in all tem- 
perate countries, 
but very much 
more extensively 
in some than in 
others. The total 
annual production 
amounted before 
the war to less 
than four billion 
bushels a year, of 
which about one 
fifth was exported. 2 

We will recall 
that in the eight- 
eenth century the 
sugar-producing is- 
lands of the West 
Indies were much 
prized as colonies, because before 1850 practically the whole 
supply of the world's sugar was made from sugar cane. 

1 As a matter of fact the amount of maize raised in Europe was 
more than 500,000,000 bushels in 1913, most of which was raised in a 
belt from Italy eastward through Austria and Hungary into southern Rus- 
sia. On the other hand, the crop of potatoes is more important in Europe 
than in America, but only one and one half per cent is ever sold outside 
of the country in which they are grown, and those usually are traded to 
near-by neighbors. The potato crop of Europe before the war amounted 
to approximately five billion bushels per year, of which three fifths was 
grown in Germany and Russia. The annual potato production of the 
United States at the same time was only 350,000,000 bushels. 

2 The world's surplus came almost entirely from six countries, of which 
Russia, the United States, Canada, the Argentine, India, and Australia 
were the most important. On the other hand, Great Britain depended 




© Underwood and Underwood 

Wheat Elevators and Whaleback Ship for 
Wheat Transportation 



Place of 
wheat in 
interna- 
tional 
markets. 



Sugar sup- 
plies in 
recent 
years. 



640 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Nature of 

English 

imports. 



English 
exports. 



In the later years of the nineteenth century and early 
part of the twentieth, the beet sugar industry developed 
so rapidly that from 1895 to 1910 more than half of the 
sugar used was made from beets. 1 

471. British Commerce and Methods of Marketing. — 
It is natural that the largest single item of British 
imports should be foodstuffs, and that three of the most 
important foodstuffs should be wheat, meat, and sugar. 
From the near-by countries of the Continent, England 
imports quantities of fruit, vegetables, eggs, and dairy 
products. She also imports some manufactured com- 
modities, including iron, steel, and copper articles. Strange 
as it may appear in connection with the wool trade, which 
was so important for England during the Middle Ages, 2 
imports of manufactured woql are an important item. 

The leadership which England took a century and a 
half ago in the manufacture of cotton cloth accounts for 
her chief export, that of textiles, chiefly cotton. How- 
ever, since the British Isles contain deposits of coal and 
iron, she is still able to send abroad rather large quantities 
of cutlery, machinery, and other forms of steel or iron 
manufactures. England's trade with her colonies (§ 369) 
constitutes nearly half of the total trade of those pos- 



upon the outside world for more than three fourths of her wheat. After 
the outbreak of the Great War much less wheat was grown in Europe 
than formerly, and owing to the short crops in the United States and the 
shortage of ships to carry wheat from distant countries, Western Europe 
and the United States were placed on short wheat rations for a number 
of years. 

1 About three fifths of this beet sugar was produced in three countries, 
Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Naturally those three 
countries exported large quantities of sugar, as did Cuba, Java, Hawaii, 
and other semitropical islands or countries. The greatest importers 
of sugar have been the United States and Great Britain. After the war 
broke out, there was a shortage of sugar, because the beet sugar supplies 
almost failed and there was not enough sugar produced to meet the 
world's needs. 

2 E. E. C., § 563. 



THE WORLD'S TRADE 



641 



sessions, and her commerce with the United States is 
especially important. 

There can be no doubt that in the last quarter century Character- 
British commercial methods have been conservative in English 
comparison with those of other peoples. Where English- commercial 
men have been forced to meet keen foreign competition, methods - 
naturally they have not been able to hold their old 
secure monopoly, partly because their methods of manu- 




Shipping and Docks on the Thames below London 

facturing were frequently of an older type and therefore 
less economical than those of some other producers. A 
second reason was undoubtedly found in the fact that 
they did not take enough pains to please their customers. 

472. German Trade and Methods of Selling Goods Place of 
Abroad. — The expansion of Germany's industry and ( J™+f 
trade, the product of unusual natural resources, especially in her 
coal and iron, has been the result also of a carefully mdustr . lal 

' J expansion. 

planned scheme. For a large percentage of her men 
her school instruction is of an industrial type, and is 
2t 



642 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 






Govern- 
ment aid to 
exporters. 



Use by Ger- 
man ex- 
porters of 
ways out- 
lawed in 
America. 



designed for the purpose of making good artisans rather 
than good citizens, because in that country the man who 
obeys best and produces most is the best German, in time 
of peace. 

Because the Germans are industrious, and because 
they have specialized on those industries for which they 
have raw materials, trained workmen, or other special 
facilities, the German people have been able to turn out 
cheap, though usually inferior, goods. These commodi- 
ties would not naturally have undersold similar articles 
of foreign producers. In the German scheme of under- 
selling all competitors it was necessary therefore not only 
to use the best methods of exporting and selling but also 
to secure government help and protection at every stage of 
the process. 

One of the means used by the Germans was to organize 
the producers into groups, called cartels, somewhat similar 
to the old trusts which we declared illegal in the United 
States more than a quarter of a century ago. These 
cartels, in cooperation with the government, secure 
special favors on the railroads and are enabled through 
government connivance to sell goods far cheaper abroad 
than they are sold within Germany. German exporters 
make a business of underselling their competitors until other 
merchants have been driven out of the market; then they 
raise the prices and control the situation. If necessary, 
the imperial government pays bounties on exports or 
subsidies on freight sent out, in order that no competitor 
shall have a fair chance. We can see from these state- 
ments that the German exporters used, and the govern- 
ment encouraged, methods which have been declared 
illegal and therefore have been outlawed within the 
United States during recent years. It certainly stands 
to reason that after the Great War other countries will 
not tolerate the use by Germany of those outlawed 



THE WORLD'S TRADE 



643 



practices ; at least they will insist upon a " fair field and 
no favors." 

473. The Significance of Commercial Expansion. — Relation of 
Ordinarily, but not necessarily, the expansion of foreign ^ e ^ er _ clal 
commerce has gone hand in hand with the development ment to 
of a merchant marine and a navy. In the Middle Ages ™^ne and 
Venice owed her commercial supremacy largely to her navy. 



V 1 

if 


j 

\ 


I j 

■II,.IP1I!||JINNHI _ 



Largest Freighter in Use, 



© Underwood and Underwood 
1916 



fleet. The Han-se-at'ic League was important commer- 
cially because its merchant vessels were numerous. In 
the seventeenth century Dutch control of the commerce 
of the world was due to the merchant marine of Holland. 
Great Britain's commercial success in the last two cen- 
turies has expanded continually, keeping pace with the 
creation of the largest merchant fleet and greatest navy 
the world has ever seen. 1 

1 Yet, in the middle of the nineteenth century the British fleet was 
only a little larger than that of the United States. At the outbreak of 
the Great War, however, Great Britain controlled more than half the 



644 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



The Great Powers desire extensive international trade 
for political as well as commercial reasons. They are 
anxious to get rid of their surplus products, and they are 
absolutely dependent on the importations of raw materials 
in large quantities, but colonies have often been desired 
less because that would extend trade than because that 
would increase international prestige. The acquisition of 
colonies, protectorates, or spheres of influence has there- 
fore been an important phase of the commercial rivalry 
of the great nations in the late nineteenth and early 
twentieth centuries. We have already studied the policy 
of Germany in relation to colonies, to a commercial em- 
pire, and to political expansion (§ 300). Especially in 
the case of Germany, but even in that of other countries, 
there is a close connection between commercial development 
and colonial expansion, and between those two together and 
political domination. 

The Producer and his Goods 

474. Development of Modern Capitalism. — In me- 
dieval times there was very little capital, that is, wealth 
which was used to produce more wealth. During the 
Renaissance and especially after the development of in- 
ternational trade in early modern times, capital became 
somewhat more abundant, but the evolution of modern 
capitalism is, in a real sense, like the development of in- 
ternational trade, an affair of the last century. It was 
necessary to produce goods in large quantities and to sell 
them at a considerable profit before it was possible to 
accumulate in the hands of capitalists a very large amount 
of surplus wealth.. 

ocean mercantile tonnage of the world and did considerably more than 
half of the carrying trade of the great countries. Great Britain owed 
the extraordinary expansion of her shipping to her position and the 
development of her steel industries. Other countries less favored in 
those respects tried to compete on even terms by granting ship subsidies. 



PRODUCER AND HIS GOODS 



645 



With the creation of machines, such as were developed at Relation of 
the time of the Industrial Revolution, 1 and the improve- ^^hiner 
ment of those machines, it was possible to turn out uni- and power 
form goods in large numbers or quantities. When first *^ ca P ltal - 
water power and then steam were applied to these ma- 
chines, not only was the number of articles produced per 
hour and day increased greatly, but it was also possible 
to make the machines larger and stronger and therefore 
capable of producing ten, a hundred, or a thousand 




The Bank of England, London 



times as much as the smaller machines of earlier years. 
If we compare a modern locomotive weighing one hun- 
dred tons with the " Puffing Billy," of which a picture 
was given on page 237, or if we compare a modern rotary 
press, which prints in an hour forty thousand eight-page 
newspapers, with Gu'ten-berg's hand press, 2 or even with 
Benjamin Franklin's improved eighteenth century press, 
we can get some idea of the extraordinary increase in 
size and productive power of modern machines. 



1 See chapter IX. 



2 E. E. C, § 633. 



646 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Capitalism 
and large 
scale in- 
dustry. 



Dependence 
of modern 
industry on 
iron and 
coal. 



Past and 
possible 
future in- 
dustrial 
regions. 



If a large number of machines is necessary for any in- 
dustry, modern business must therefore be done on a large 
scale. Consequently the modern factory is huge, and it 
employs thousands of workers, most of them skilled or 
at least prepared to do a certain type of work. 1 A large 
amount of capital is necessary even to equip a modern 
factory, and still more capital is needed for the purchase 
of raw materials which are turned by the factory into a 
completed product. 

475. Natural Resources and Production. — It is im- 
possible to make very large machines of wood or of the 
materials which one finds in an ordinary household or 
shop. They must be strong and capable of standing 
for years the wear and tear of exceedingly heavy work. 
They must therefore be made of iron, and they must also 
be made of that form of iron which will stand the greatest 
strain. Accordingly the largest, finest, and best machines 
are made of steel. As steel is an exceedingly modern 
product — the year before our Civil War broke out 
only three thousand tons was produced in the United 
States — it has been possible to make these great machines 
only during the last five or six decades. Modern indus- 
trial progress of the highest degree has been possible only 
in those countries which have had good supplies of iron 
and which have turned that iron into steel, and from the 
steel created good machines. Steel machines might be 
produced in one country and sold to another, but they 
cannot be used by the people of the second nation unless 
those people have or can get large supplies of coal. 

In the past, and at the present time, more use is made of 
these commodities by Great Britain and Germany than 
by other countries ; but, in the future, it is probable that 
in Spain, the Balkan regions, Asia Minor, and Russia 
the coal beds will be utilized to a greater extent. 

1 This is called division of labor. 



PRODUCER AND HIS GOODS 647 

476. Coal as an Industrial Factor. — The chief use of Enormous 
coal is the development of power. A ton of coal burned ^^^due 
on the grate of a stationary engine generates steam that can to use of 
do the work of a thousand men in a ten-hour day; and a ton coa ■ 

of coal can be procured, by a factory which is not far 
from a coal deposit, at a cost varying from two to five 
dollars a ton. We can readily see that it is cheaper to 
buy coal than to pay for labor; and, as every country's 
supply of labor is limited, the use of coal increases its 
man-power a hundredfold. The nation which uses 
machines operated by steam can therefore produce more 
articles than its neighbors which depend little on machin- 
ery, and it can produce them very much more cheaply. 1 

Some of the countries which have very fine supplies of Great coal 
coal mine very little; others which have comparatively Entries 
little mine a great deal. The United States produces 
more coal every year than any other country, almost as 
much as any other two countries, but Great Britain and 
Germany also mine large quantities, these three producing 
more than eighty-five per cent of the world's supply. 

477. Iron Manufactures and Uses. — Iron is the most Making of 
valuable of all the metals and, next to coal, of all the ^S 
minerals. In fact, as shown above, coal and iron are 
interdependent. In order to change iron ore into iron, 

it is necessary to place the iron with some fuel in a fur- 
nace which is capable of withstanding intense heat. The 
iron ore is then melted and the impurities such as 
carbon are burnt out. 2 About the time of our Civil War, 

1 If one quarter of all the coal consumed in the United States were 
used in industrial plants for the manufacture of goods, the power gener- 
ated by the coal would be equivalent to the labor of several billion men. 

2 A century and a half ago charcoal was used almost exclusively as the 
fuel, but it is impossible to use charcoal in a country which lacks great 
supplies of wood. In Great Britain, whose forests were limited in extent, 
coal was converted into coke, and the coke was then put into the furnace 
with the iron ore, and the iron ore was converted into pigs or bars of cast 



648 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Some trans- 
formations 
due to iron 
and steam. 



but a little more then a half century ago, an English- 
man, Bes'se-mer, invented a process of making steel 
in large quantities, and his methods have been improved 
since. 

The present age has been called an age of iron ; it has 
also been called an age of steam. It is both. The steam 




engine would never have become an important factor in 
modern life if we had not had iron and in fact if we had 
not had steel. Iron and steam have therefore been the 



PHYSICAL AND 

ECONOMIC 
GEOGRAPHY OP 
WESTERN AND 
CENTRAL 

EUROPE 

1 

SCALE OF MIL ES 
50 100 

EXPLANATION 

High Mountains 
Uplands and 

Highlands 

Lowlands (Sea Lev ell j 

O to 650 feet) ; 

50 Sea Depths less ! 

than 600 feet 

Sea Depths more I 

than 600 feet L^J 

Coal Districts J| 

Forest .Areas. 

Iron Deposits j_ 

Copper Districts ftH | 

Silver Districts ||| 

National Boundaries 

1914 

Lines showing Mean 

Annual Temperatures 



Important Capitals I9li® 
Rainfall for practically all 
Western and Central Europe 
from 25 to 50 inches yearly, 
except on Spanish Plateau 

60 









^ o 



V-SHh 



10° ^f Longitude 





' ILLIAMS ENGRAvma CO., N.Y, 



with 
America. 



PRODUCER AND HIS GOODS 649 

most important elements in the creation of the modern 
industrial world. It stands to reason that if man's 
machines have enabled each worker to do the work of 
a hundred men, if they have increased the distance which 
man may travel from twenty-five to forty times, the 
world is a very different place to live in than it was before 
these marvelous changes occurred. The modern city is to 
a large extent, at least in the business districts, a city of 
steel buildings. Huge steel bridges span rivers which 
a few years ago it was impossible to cross except by ferry- 
boat. The uses of iron are legion, and the transformations 
of modern national life, due to steel and steam, are more 
wonderful than those of the genii summoned by rubbing 
Aladdin's lamp. 

478. The Use in Europe of Large Scale Production. — Comparison 
As stated above, the typical industrial plant cannot be 
a small factory. The modern railroad in a similar way 
must cover a wide area and have at least one important 
trunk line with probably several subsidiary feeder lines. 
In Europe the countries are smaller and therefore dis- 
tances between large cities are shorter. Moreover, the 
supply of labor is much greater compared with area and 
resources than in the United States. In consequence, 
although factories are very much larger than they were a 
half century ago and very much larger indeed than they 
were a century ago, what we call large scale production 
has not been developed as much as in the United 
States. 1 

1 In Great Britain there were in 1850 forty-five thousand establish- 
ments of a certain kind ; sixty years later the number had been reduced 
to five thousand, although the production was greater in 1910 than at 
the early date. In Germany the number of persons employed in small 
establishments has remained about stationary, but the number of work- 
ers in large factories increased from less than a hundred thousand in 
1882 to more than a million and a half thirteen years later. A similar 
change has occurred in other industrial countries. 



650 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Different 
forms of 
European 
trusts. 



Attitude of 

government 

toward 

private 

business. 



In Europe there are many trusts, but true consolidation 1 
of industry has not been conspicuous. In Germany a 
few companies have become monopolies in the manufacture 
of their line of articles, and m some cases have secured 
control also of raw materials from which their goods are 
made. To some extent that has happened in Great Brit- 
ain also. In general, however, where combination has 
taken place, it has been in a different form. For example, 
in Great Britain most of the thread is produced by a 
single trust which also controls the largest American 
thread factory. Besides these producing monopolies 
there are loosely organized selling syndicates. The best 
examples of these are the cartels of western Germany 
(§472), particularly those connected with the iron and 
steel industry of the Rhine valley. These leave to each 
producer complete control of his production, with the 
possible exception that they may limit his output, but 
they take charge of all the goods produced by the differ- 
ent plants and sell them for the producers. 

479. Government Regulation of Business. — When a 
business such as a steam railway or an electric lighting 
plant is owned and managed by a government, there is 
no problem of government supervision; but, even in the 
countries which have gone farthest in adopting different 
forms of public ownership (§§ 465-467), it is necessarily 
true that most business is financed with private capital, 
is subject to private enterprise, and is managed by in- 
dividuals or private corporations. The attitude of gov- 
ernment toward these businesses depends upon several 
things. First, it depends upon the government itself. 
In some countries and particularly in some ages govern- 



1 In this country the best example of consolidation is the United States 
Steel Corporation. It absorbed more than half of our steel plants and 
also bought large supplies of raw materials, as well as steamships and 
railroads for transporting raw materials to the company's plants. 



PRODUCER AND HIS GOODS 651 

merits like that of Colbert (§ 56) have been distinguished for 
their paternalism. We will recall that Colbert went so 
far as to designate the width of cloth that should be woven, 
and the number of threads per inch. A second condi- 
tion affecting government supervision is the nature of 
the business itself. Some businesses, like banking or the 
construction of roads, are of such nature that they must 
be controlled largely by the public. If they are left in 
private hands, as for example banking in this country, 
then careful supervision is necessary to protect the savings 
of the small investor and to safeguard the person who 
lends or borrows. 

Ordinarily agriculture and industry are somewhat more Promotion 
subject to supervision and control in Europe than in this and . r ^- 
country, although both here and abroad business is al- business by 
lowed a comparatively free hand. One means used by le g lslatlon - 
the continental countries and by the United States to 
promote industry is the protective tariff. Great Britain 
does not have a tariff of this type. Since European 
governments do not give corporations so many privileges 
or so much freedom in doing business as we give ours, they 
do not need and do not have, for the purpose of protect- 
ing the public from combinations, as severe laws as our 
state anti-trust laws or the national Sherman Anti-Trust 
Law. Another reason that European laws are more 
lenient than ours is that they are enforced better. Still 
a third arises from the fact that government ownership 
has gone much farther in Europe than in America, partly 
because the continental countries have always been ac- 
customed to a benevolent paternalism, whereas America, 
like Great Britain, has favored individual freedom and 
initiative, and has always given individual enterprise as 
free a hand as possible. In the more progressive Euro- 
pean countries there is more interference in behalf of the 
worker than we have in the United States. 



652 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Capital and Labor 



Change in 
possible 
relations 
between 
employer 
and em- 
ployee. 



Old laws 
and customs 
and new 
laws. 



Labor 
legislation 
of different 
types. 



480. Modern Relations of Capital and Labor. — The 

Industrial Revolution revolutionized not only the methods 
of producing goods by machinery and in large factories 
but also the relations of capital to labor. In earlier 
centuries each employer dealt with a comparatively few 
workmen, many or all of whom he knew personally, and 
with whom frequently he worked. With the develop- 
ment of large scale industry in production and in trans- 
portation, conditions have changed absolutely. 1 Instead of 
the relations between the employer and employee being 
personal and intimate, they are between paid overseers 
on the one hand, and on the other employees whom the 
foreman may not know well, and in whose welfare he has 
little interest. 

In spite of the revolutionary changes in the organization 
of industry in Europe during the last few decades, a 
great many of the older laws, customs, and usages still 
survive. Of course, these older laws were made for 
conditions such as existed centuries ago. They may have 
been very satisfactory with the old type industry, but 
they cannot apply well to the entirely different condi- 
tions of the present time. During the last quarter cen- 
tury all progressive countries of western-central or north- 
ern Europe have adopted new laws. 

Some of these new laws regulate the organization of 
labor groups, usually labor unions; others protect the 
workers in their relations with their employers, or pro- 
vide for industrial conciliation or boards of arbitration. 
Still others deal with the protection of labor by social 
insurance (§§485-489). 



1 In the first place, even in Europe, much of the work is done through 
corporations which combine the capital of a great many different persons ; 
therefore, frequently there is no single master or owner. The corpora- 



CAPITAL AND LABOR 653 

481. Labor Unions in Great Britain. — The English British 
labor unions are the direct product of the Industrial ^or^isS 3 
Revolution and of large scale industry. Under the old 
common law, combinations of workers were illegal, even if 
the workers combined only to secure better wages, or to re- 
duce hours of labor, or in other ways improve their condi- 
tions. Those restrictive laws remained in force until about 
1825. In that year all of the old laws were repealed, and 
temporarily the new labor unions were legalized. 

Although labor unions were not greatly encouraged by Labor 
this half-hearted legislation, they grew rapidly, and became ^ 10 ^ dur " 
an important influence in the industry of Great Britain, nineteenth 
About the time that the second reform movement of the centur y- 
nineteenth century started (§ 345), the unions were de- 
clared to be legal and were allowed to look after their 
own affairs much better than ever before. 1 

New laws have been passed since 1906 for the special British 
protection of the British unions. Now the labor unions } aborunlons 

^ in recent 

of the British Isles are very well protected by law, and years. 
their rights are safeguarded more carefully than those 
of any other labor organizations in the world. One is 
not surprised, therefore, to learn that in Great Britain a 
far larger percentage of the workmen are organized into 
unions than in any other country, including the United 
States. Before the outbreak of the Great War, the 
unions, with their four million members, practically 
dominated the labor situation ; they were able to dic- 
tate to many employers the amount which the latter 
should produce, because they limited the output per 
worker to a point far below the amount that each was 
capable of doing. 

tion, or the owner of any large establishment, must necessarily deal with 
its men through superintendents and foremen, and indirectly. 

1 In the first year of the twentieth century, however, the House of 
Lords, which is the highest court in England, practically took away 
many of the rights given by the newer reform laws. 



654 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Early labor 
unions and 
labor legis- 
lation in 
France. 



History, 
aims, and 
methods of 
syndicalism. 



482. Labor Organizations on the Continent. — Old 

continental laws, like those of England, made it illegal 
for workers to combine in order to gain for themselves 
any economic advantage. 1 Nevertheless, modern labor 
unions were organized in France during the second quar- 
ter of the nineteenth century, and those workmen, as we 
have already noticed (§ 218), took an active part in a 
number of revolutions, particularly that of 1848. Louis 
Napoleon secured the enactment of a number of laws 
favorable to the workers, because he wanted their support. 
In fact, France did more than any other country in 
Europe in the help that she gave directly and indirectly 
to the working classes. 

Before the close of the nineteenth century a large num- 
ber of French unions (syndicates) formed a general fed- 
eration. Although this included only about one tenth of 
the industrial workers of France, it has played a part in 
continental industrial history out of proportion to its 
size. It looks upon the relations of capital to labor as a 
species of warfare, in which the two are enemies. The 
workers try, by use of the general strike, that is, by all 
striking at the same time, to force the employers to grant 
their demands. They use such methods as destroying 
machinery by throwing into it a wooden shoe, or sabot, 
a custom which has given the name sabotage to attempts 
to injure machinery or employer's property. These are 
some of the methods used and aims desired by the syndi- 
calists, a name which is used now outside of France by 
those who have similar aims. 

Although there are many more workmen in Germany 
than in France, and although a larger number of Ger- 

1 Since the gilds (§12) had been far more prominent on the Continent 
than in the British Isles, the brotherhoods of gild workers were more im- 
portant in continental countries, and survived until the nineteenth 
century. With the introduction of machinery and factories, they ceased, 
however, to have influence that they had exercised in previous centuries. 



CAPITAL AND LABOR 655 

man workers are organized in unions, the unions do not German in- 
have the share in German industrial life that the syn- du ? tnal 

J unions. 

dicates do in that of France. This is partly due to the 
fact that years ago the government passed several severe 
laws against the Socialists (§ 296) and unionists that used 
similar methods. Most of the German unions are found 
in the industrial and mining districts of West Germany. 
The German unions are in the nature of social organi- 
zations rather than of the economic type of union found 
in France and Great Britain. 1 

483. Employers and Employees. — It is inevitable that Disputes 
the employers and the workmen should desire radically dif- ° ver condl - 
f erent provisions for the contracts under which the workers work. 
are employed. In consequence, disputes are exceedingly 
numerous, and are frequently of such a character that 
strikes result. One strike in France in 1909 presented a 
more serious problem than any strike that we have had in 
America since the Pullman Railway strike of 1894. 2 The 
miners' strike in England in 1912 also caused widespread 
distress, and presented a serious national problem. 

Usually strikes, even important strikes, have been Settlement 
settled without interference by the government of the dLputes^n 
country in which they have occurred, but several of the the Conti- 
continental countries have had for years industrial courts nent " 
or councils in each community, to which the individual 
workman may bring his dispute with his employer. 
Usually these courts or councils, which are made of 
equal number of workmen and employers, deal only with 
individual problems, but in a few countries disputes of 
groups of workers may also be taken to these courts. 

In England less progress has been made in arranging 
permanent boards for conciliation, that is, for bringing to- 



1 Labor organizations are to be found in Austria, Italy, and in other 
European countries, but in none of them are the unions important. 

2 See Ashley, American History, § 474. 



656 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Labor prob- 
lems in 
England. 

Low wages 
paid in 
central and 
eastern 
Europe. 



The prob- 
lem of a 
minimum 
wage in 
Great 
Britain. 



War 

problems of 
labor legis- 
lation. 



gether employers and employees, and settling their dif- 
ferences, or for the arbitration of labor disputes, that is, the 
submission of the dispute to a group of outsiders. 

484. The Problem of a Living Wage. — Although wages 
are higher to-day than they were three fourths of a cen- 
tury ago (§211), a large number of workers are still em- 
ployed at practically starvation wages. Moreover, the 
farther east and south we go from Great Britain and 
France, the lower is the daily wage. In Germany wages 
were little more than one half what they are for the same 
kind of work in the United States, and in Austria and 
Russia the daily pay of workers has been still lower. 

In spite of the fact that the English workers have been 
fairly well paid compared with continental workmen, in 
England there have been a large number of underpaid 
industries. Among these have been the work done in 
tenement houses, usually known as the sweated industries. 
By a trades act of 1909 wage boards were created in each 
community to fix a minimum wage in any one or all of 
the sweated industries. When the miners' strike occurred 
a few years later, demand was made by the miners for a 
minimum wage of five shillings per day. The employers 
were unwilling to grant this, and the government did 
not care to make such a law ; but it did authorize wage 
boards in each mining community to fix a minimum wage 
for regular adult miners. No employer dared pay a 
sum lower than the wage which the board fixed, except 
to apprentices. 

Other countries in which a minimum wage law is even 
more necessary than it is in Great Britain have thus far 
failed to fix such a minimum standard. Nowhere in 
Europe do we find a minimum wage provided for women 
workers, as in many American states, in order that they 
may maintain a proper standard of living. The war brings 
heavier pressure to bear upon workers in all industries, 



CAPITAL AND LABOR 657 

and makes it easier for employers and officials to overlook 
the laws that exist. It will therefore be especially neces- 
sary in the years following the war to enforce all existing 
laws, to make better laws for the protection of labor, and 
in other ways to take better care of workers who are 
first citizens and second employees. 

General References 

Day, History of Commerce, Part IV. 
Herrick, History of Commerce and Industry. 
Slater, The Making of Modern England, 191-269. 
Hobson, Evolution of Modern Capitalism. 

Gibbins, The Nineteenth Century — Economic and Industrial 
Progress. 

Ogg, Economic Development of Modern Europe. 

Ashley (ed.), British Industries. 

Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany. 

McPherson, Transportation in Europe. 

Hauser, Germany's Commercial Grip on the World. 

Whelpley, The Trade of the World. 

Ashley, Modern Tariff History. 

Gompers, Labor in Europe and America. 

Topics 

Coal in Modern Industry : Brigham, Commercial Geog- 
raphy, 79-91 ; Day, History of Commerce, 270-279 ; Smith, In- 
dustrial and Commercial Geography, 371-394. 

British Labor Unions since 1871 : Slater, The Making of 
Modern England, 256-269 ; Ogg, Economic Development of Modern 
Europe, 429-449; Hayes (ed.), British Social Politics, 77-106. 

Studies 

1. Progress of sailing and steam-navigation. Gibbins, The 
Nineteenth Century, 478-480. 

2. The world's food supply. Roorbach, G. B., in Annals 
of American Academy, 74 (1917), 1-33. 

3. British resources and industries. Smith, Commerce 
and Industry, 351-363. 

2u 



658 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

4. Present and future of England's commerce. Day, 
History of Commerce, 381-389. 

5. The part of the German state in economic expansion. 
Hauser, Germany's Commercial Grip on the World, 140-155. 

6. Trade strategy. Whelpley, The Trade of the World, 
3-37. 

7. Methods used by Germany to increase commerce. 
Hauser, Germany's Commercial Grip on the World, 157-171. 

8. Cape to Cairo railway. Freeman, L. R., in Review of 
Reviews, 50 (1914), 64-80. 

9. Modernization of Asia by railway. Freeman, L. R., in 
Review of Reviews, 47 (1913), 193-208. 

10. Coal and iron — and the domination of the world. Barker, 
J. E., in Nineteenth Century, 83 (1918), 698-714. 

11. Development of large scale industry. Hobson, Evolution 
of Modern Capitalism, 117-125. 

12. Iron machinery, and manufactures. Day, History of 
Commerce, 280-286. 

13. Effect of free trade on Great Britain. Tickner, Social 
and Industrial History of England, 609-620. 

14. Effect of government control on railway rates and 
finances. McPherson, Transportation in Europe, 158-175. 

15. British labor unions in the mid-nineteenth century. 
Slater, The Making of Modern England, 201-212. 

16. French unions. Ogg, Economic Development of Modern 
Europe, 463-470. 

17. British views on minimum wage. Hayes (ed.), British 
Social Politics, 238-247. 

18. Meaning of the minimum wage. Bruere, R. W., in 
Harpers, 132 (1916), 276-282. 

Questions 

1. Why is intern ational trade to so large an extent a product 
of the last century? What are some of the important objects 
of commerce? Where are they produced, and where are they 
consumed ? 

2. Give some idea of the volume and character of British 
commerce. To what extent is it carried on between the mother 
country and the colonies? between America and England? 
What are some characteristics of British export methods? 
Why is London the clearing-house of the world ? 



COMMERCE, INDUSTRY, AND LABOR 659 

3. Give reasons for the rapid development of German in- 
dustry and commerce in the last half century. Name some 
methods used by German exporters which we have discontinued 
in this country because they are unfair. What is the nature 
of a German cartel? To what extent are colonies an advantage 
or a disadvantage economically? What are the political gains 
and opportunities that come to a country from a large share of 
the world's trade? 

4. What is capital? What is the connection of capital with 
the Industrial Revolution ? Why do we have large scale industry, 
and division of labor, in modern production? 

5. To what extent is production dependent on natural sources ? 
What part is played by coal in the industrial development of 
a nation? Why is iron so much more important in modern 
times than it was in the medieval and ancient worlds? What 
is the part played by steel in the present age? Name several 
uses of steel unknown a century ago. 

6. Name the different types of industrial combinations found 
in Europe and America. Explain each as fully as possible. 
Why has there been more governmental supervision of industry 
in Europe than in America? Compare our tariff and anti- 
trust laws with those in use in Europe. 

7. Show how the relation of employer to employee has 
changed radically since the Industrial Revolution. Is the labor 
union the natural accompaniment of large scale production? 
Why are labor unions relatively larger and more important in 
Europe than in America? What has the British government 
done for the labor unions in recent years ? 

8. What is meant by "direct action," which is employed by 
the syndicalists? Explain the terms general strike and sabot- 
age. What are the industrial courts or councils found in con- 
tinental Europe ? How does England handle her labor disputes ? 
Should there be a minimum wage for European workers ? How 
is the war affecting the labor situation and problem? 



CHAPTER XXV 



BETTERMENT AND PROGRESS 



Social Insurance 

485. Need and Forms. — Since wages are lower in 
Europe than in America, it is less easy for European 
workers to save money and thus provide for themselves 
or their families in case of sickness, invalidity, old age, 
industrial accident, or death. It has been especially 
necessary, therefore, that the European governments 
should help them in case one of these misfortunes over- 
took them. Formerly the governments gave aid only 
in the form of charity to those who applied for it, but 
charity seemed a gift, whereas the worker had earned a 
rest if he were old, or care if he had been injured. 1 Forms 
of social insurance were developed for the further reason 
that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

By social insurance is meant the plan of providing, 
through the cooperation of the public, the worker, and 
the employer, for future emergencies. It is usually pro- 
vided against sickness, invalidity, old age, accident, death, 
and unemployment. The methods used in different Eu- 
ropean countries are numerous, but the same ideas are 
found in most of the plans. For example, the worker 
would naturally pay a larger share into the fund from 
which he would draw in case of sickness or old age than 
he would in the case of an industrial accident, for the 

1 In other words the worker had given his time and labor for society 
when he was young and well. Society therefore owed him such care as 
he needed, and society could not pay what it owed by charity. 

660 



SOCIAL INSURANCE 661 

accident would not be due to his fault, whereas the sick- 
ness might be prevented by him, and he has a great many 
years in which to pay for an old age retirement wage. 

486. Compensation for Industrial Accidents. — Now- Why the 
adays most industrial accidents are due either to the I) ^ hl ] ( \ 

J m should pay 

perilous nature of the business or to the use of dangerous for indus- 
machines. The building of bridges or " sky-scrapers," the * na j. accl " 
use of locomotives and trains, even the ironing of collars through the 
or napkins on unprotected machines lead to many acci- em P lo y ers - 
dents. The fault is not necessarily that of the worker, 
because he may have been careful ; nor is it that of the 
employer, because he may have the safest machines that 
he can buy. The cost of accidents should then be borne by 
the public, which demands the goods that these workers 
are making. It should be counted as part of the cost of 
the articles just as the materials or the labor are a part 
of the cost, and it should therefore be paid through em- 
ployers, because they can add the amount paid for acci- 
dents to the price of the articles. 

At the present time practically all Europe provides Payment in 
compensation for the worker who is disabled, or for his ° ase of 

. . • 7 temporary 

family in case of death. These laws make a distinction disability. 
between an accident that is temporary and one that is 
permanent. Little injuries that keep a worker away 
from employment a day or two are not counted, but if 
a laborer is disabled for six months, he receives from the 
accident fund an amount equal to part of his former wage, 
usually from one half to two thirds of the sum that he 
has been receiving. 

In case of permanent disability the worker receives, or Two sys- 
in case of death his family receives, compensation in tems fo * . 

. payment in 

order that they may not become public charges dependent case of 

on charity. There are two main systems of paying for p™^ 111 

permanent disability. The first consists of a lump sum of or death, 
from two years' wages to six years' wages ; it is used in 



662 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

Great Britain, some smaller European countries, in some 
British colonies, and in many American states. The 
other system provides for payment during the lifetime of 
the worker, or in case of death, during the dependence of 
his widow or young children, of an amount equal to from 
one fifth to two thirds of the worker's wages, according 
to the number of people who have been dependent on 
him. 
Purpose of 487. Sickness Insurance. — In America, men who wish 
sickness in- ^ avo j ( j ^g i osses d ue to unexpected sickness insure 

surance law. e ^ 

themselves. In most countries of Europe, however, or- 
dinary wage-earners are compelled or expected to take 
out insurance in companies approved by the government. 
In this way laborers provide for their families in case they 
are out of work because of sickness ; and as a result fewer 
people are obliged to apply for charity. 
Comparison Compulsory insurance against sickness for workers in 
of compui- mos t industries is enforced in Great Britain ; in Ger- 

sory and . . ' 

voluntary many it is demanded of workmen who earn less than $500 
plans in a y earj an d i n Austria and Norway for some workers. In 
Europe voluntary insurance by workers against sickness 
is quite as common as compulsory insurance. This is 
provided usually in the form of government aid and en- 
couragement to private societies or companies, in which 
workers may insure or not, at their option. Before 
1914, for example, about fifty per cent of all French 
workmen had taken advantage of this opportunity and 
had actually insured in private organizations. 
Provisions The British law may be described as a good type of 
° f ^ e h sickness insurance. If a worker earns more than 15 shil- 

sickness lings ($3.65) a week, he pays four pence (8 cents) per week 
into the insurance fund, and his employer and the gov- 
ernment pay a somewhat smaller amount ; but, if he re- 
ceives less than 15 shillings, he pays less than four pence. 
He does not pay anything if he earns less than 9 shillings 



insurance 
law. 



SOCIAL INSURANCE 663 

a week, and his employer and the government pay a 
correspondingly larger amount. The very poor man is 
therefore not compelled to take anything out of his star- 
vation wages in order to be insured against sickness. 
There is also this slight inducement for the employer to 
pay larger wages. 

488. Old Age Pensions. — The care of the aged poor 
is an important problem in practically all European 
countries. Since many European laborers work for only tributary 
a little more than is necessary to keep the body provided P ension 
with food, clothing, and shelter, they are able to save very 
little. Unless there is some special inducement to make 
them save for old age, most of them are likely to lay aside 
far less than they will need when they are no longer able 
to earn. Years ago the problem of the aged poor was 
solved in part in poorhouses, or workhouses, or by out- 
door relief to those that were needy. 1 In order that the 
worker should look forward to something better than 
assistance as a pauper, many countries, especially France, 
encouraged and helped the ordinary worker to save. 
Old age pensions under government supervision were 
first used about thirty years ago ; but in all older systems 
of government pension, the workers were compelled to 
contribute a small sum per week, or per year. These 
systems are now found in France and in Germany. 

Great Britain gives old age pensions of from one to five Provisions 
shillings a week to men or women over seventy years of ° f Bntlsh 
age who need that help. No one may receive a pension 
if he has an independent income of his own amount- 
ing to more than $153.40 a year. About a million old 
men and women now benefit by this help from the gov- 
ernment. A few of them are absolutely dependent upon 
it, but ordinarily an aged person who has no income what- 
ever must be cared for in a government institution. 

1 E. E. C, §§ 507, 713, 715, and this volume § 99. 



664 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



489. Unemployment. — In the opinion of Europeans, 
necessary public protection for workers has included not 
only the forms of social insurance which have just been 
treated, but also provisions to reduce unemployment. 
Although not a pioneer in state aid to the unemployed, 
Great Britain has gone farther than other countries. In 
1909 a labor exchanges act was passed by Parliament; 
under this more than four hundred labor exchanges have 
been organized. It is the purpose of these bureaus to 
enroll men out of work, to classify them according to their 
capacity, or experiences, and to bring employers and 
employees together, giving each opportunity to make a 
contract with the other. By the British national insur- 
ance act of 1911 about two and a half million working- 
men in building and engineering trades were compelled 
to insure against unemployment. A fund was created to 
which workmen contributed 5 cents a week, the employers 
paying a similar amount, and the state about two thirds 
as much. In case of unemployment, the workman is 
entitled for a period of fifteen weeks to SI. 75 per week. 

In some of the European countries, especially Denmark, 
the government gives help to properly organized private 
employment organizations. Private insurance against 
unemployment, however, is quite irregular and rather 
unsatisfactory. In spite of the great development of 
state-controlled social insurance schemes in Germany, 
employment bureaus are maintained not by the imperial 
government, but by the German cities. Of all forms of 
social insurance, that dealing with unemployment has 
made less progress in Europe than any other. 



Social Welfare Work 

490. Care of the Poor in England. — A century and a 
half ago no one thought of doing much more than re- 
lieving poverty (§ 99), and many of the poor laws were 



SOCIAL INSURANCE 665 

quite unwise. By 1830 ten times as much revenue was 
raised by the poor rates as in the middle of the eighteenth 
century. 

By the Poor Law of 1834- most of the abuses of the old Character 
system were checked or actually removed. The care of. a ^i ef ? et 
the poor was intrusted to a smaller number of officials of 1834. 
than before, and they were not allowed to help able- 
bodied applicants for relief either in workhouses or in 
their homes. The number of paupers, which had reached 
one in twelve of the whole population, was reduced by 
one half, although the population was growing rapidly. 

In recent years the administration of the poor law has Old reme- 
been improved considerably, but the present aim of the newfor* 
authorities in England is to solve the problem of poverty poverty, 
through old age pensions, compensation for accidents, 
and other remedies which will keep the worker from be- 
coming a pauper. 

491. Care of the Poor on the Continent. — In the Mid- Care of the 
die Ages the poor of the Continent were cared for exclu- ^^i^he 1 
sively by the church authorities. When northern Europe early 
broke away from the older church, at the time of the ^f^ 11 
Protestant Revolution, 1 it was necessary for the authori- 
ties of the local governments to take care of paupers, and 
other needy persons in their own communities. Most 
of the Belgian towns, notably Ypres, began to devise 
better means of caring for the poor than the more con- 
servative church authorities had deemed necessary. 
Until the nineteenth century, however, the care of the 
poor in both Catholic and Protestant countries of con- 
tinental Europe was far less satisfactory than it should 
have been. 

In France the poor and the sick have been looked after Private and 
more largely by voluntary organizations than was the R ub ^° char " 
case in England after the time of Elizabeth. 2 At the France. 

1 E. E. C, §§ 675-686. a E. E. C, § 715. 



666 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Systems of 
poor relief 
in the 
Rhine val- 
ley. 



Seriousness 
of problem 
of poverty 
in southern 
Europe. 



Contrast 
between 
areas of 
small 

farmers and 
of large 
proprietors. 



present time, the French governments do not raise taxes 
for the care of the poor in general, and even the pauper 
must depend chiefly upon private charity. However, 
French public officials provide hospitals and homes for 
.the aged poor, orphans, and others absolutely incapable 
of taking care of themselves. The French also have 
some dispensaries similar to those maintained in American 
cities, 1 and considerable outdoor relief is also furnished by 
the local governments. 

In Germany the care of the poor has been left to the 
local authorities, and strangely enough, there is little 
uniformity through the different states of the empire. 
In a few cities of western Germany systems of poor 
relief have been developed which are administered by some 
of the most public-spirited citizens of those towns. Poor- 
houses are used for those who need them, and poor farms 
for those who wish work but cannot find it, or for those 
who can work but will not do it. 

In southern and eastern Europe beggars abound, and 
poverty is so common as not to be exceptional. It would 
be difficult for most of these peoples to devise perfectly 
satisfactory systems of poor relief, because their prob- 
lem is so great. Possibly for that reason, state systems 
of caring for the poor are considerably less satisfactory 
in those countries than elsewhere in Europe or in America. 

492. The Land and the Landless. — In the United 
States, at least until recent years, the problem of poverty 
has not been nearly so serious as in Europe, chiefly because 
we had an abundance of western land, a parcel of which 
could be acquired by any earnest, hard-working citizen 
at little expense. In Europe, however, people are 
numerous and land is scarce. In studying the countries 
of Europe we are impressed, however, with the great dif- 
ferences in the systems of landholding or tenure which are 

1 See Ashley, 'The New Civics, § 254. 



SOCIAL WELFARE WORK 667 

in use in different sections. In Great Britain, 1 in Ger- 
many, and in much of Spain, Italy, Austria, and Russia, 
most of the land is held by large landed proprietors who 
are, as a rule, members of the aristocracy, and possibly 
influential in the government of their country. On the 
contrary, in France (§ 202), Belgium, 2 and some parts of 
Holland, Switzerland, and of western Germany, the large 
landowner is almost unknown. In those countries the 
land is divided into small areas or farms, and the number 
of peasant proprietors is amazingly large, although many 
of these small farmers, or " little landers " are tenants. 

In Russia one of the first acts of the revolutionary gov- The land 
ernment in 1917 was to confiscate the royal lands, and a P roblem "J 
large part of the nobles' land, for subdivision among the eastern 
peasants. What the ultimate solution of the land prob- Eur °P e - 
lem in Russia may be only the future can show. In Ger- 
many, Austria, and Italy it is hoped that social changes 
which should follow the Great War will reduce the size 
and the number of large estates, and will give at least 
a fair number of farmers ownership of their own land. 

493. Position of Women. — The lot of a European Old disabili- 



woman is one not to be envied. To an American girl, ties and . , 

° 7 newer rights 

accustomed to a remarkable amount of freedom in pub- of British 
lie, as well as elsewhere, the restricted life of even a women - 
British girl seems antiquated, and the secluded lives of 

1 We have noticed that, by the use of the Irish land purchase acts 
(§ 365), nearly one half the Irish farmers have begun to pay for their 
farms, which they formerly held as tenants. Recent English laws permit 
the county councils to acquire land which they can let out to tenants on 
favorable leases. A far larger number of farmers are taking advantage 
of this law than of an earlier English land purchase act. 

2 In Belgium, before 1914, the number of owners of farms was not large, 
although the number of small farms was great, especially in the more 
prosperous and fertile districts of northwestern Belgium. Before the war 
there was great demand among Belgian tenant farmers for land, as was 
the case with the Irish a century ago ; in consequence exorbitant rents are 
paid, and even the well-known intensive cultivation of the Belgians pro- 
duces barely enough to enable the tenant farmers to pay their expenses. 



668 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

continental girls and women scarcely less than medieval. 
In no European country did a married woman have many 
legal rights before the Great War. It does snot seem 
credible that even enlightened Great Britain had refused 
to let married women keep control of their own prop- 
erty. One wonders what may have been the status and 
social position of women on the Continent ! The war 
has brought to English women some relief from legal op- 
pression ; it is also conferring upon them privileges which 
grant them a share in the government of Great Britain. 
status of In comparison with the English girl, the girl of France 

continental k as j^^ bought up [ n retirement and seclusion. The 

women. > ° ^ 

continental woman has been allowed one " privilege" 

which her British or American sister has not used, that 

of working in the fields. Especially in Germany have 

women been treated with little consideration (§ 303), for 

in that respect Germany clings to the semi-medieval order 

still found in many parts of eastern and southern Europe. 

influence of The Great War has had a considerable influence upon 

the Great the position of European women, and will undoubtedly 

position of have a greater effect as the years pass. At the outbreak of 

women m war no ^ man y more than two million British women were 

allied coun- T . . 

tries. engaged in industry, about two thirds of whom were in 

textile or clothing factories or shops. Because many 
men were called to the front, and were taken from their 
work at machine or desk, women were in many cases 
forced to take their places. The effect of these new 
occupations, in which women are brought in contact with 
people in general, will probably do away with the habits 
of seclusion in which women formerly lived, especially 
in France. The war, however, has added to the burden 
of women workers. In France, for example, several 
million women undoubtedly have been obliged to carry 
heavier work in the fields than was necessary before the 
men of the families were called to the army. The prob- 



SOCIAL WELFARE WORK 669 

lems of providing properly for the women of the war 
areas, especially if they have become active workers with 
the public, and of giving all European women more 
rights and privileges, are among the most serious that 
confront the future. 

494. Care of the Child. — The real development of Essential 
any people may be measured rather accurately by the ^J d ^j_ 
care that they take of children ; for those far-seeing per- fare, 
sons have spoken truly who say that children are the na- 
tion's greatest asset. Something has been done in modern 
Europe, even if very little, to improve the home conditions 
of the small child; and modern medical science and 
sanitation have reduced considerably the death rate among 
infants. Even yet, Europe has made less progress in 
that respect than has America, and we hope that we are 
only beginning that great work. 1 Great Britain, France, 
and Germany have compulsory education laws for boys, 
and presumably for girls, until they have finished the 
common schools ; nevertheless at least two thirds of the 
British children over twelve years of age are not in school. 
Moreover, the type of education that is offered every- 
where leaves much to be desired. 

Although Europe is so well supplied with workers, Incomplete 
their child labor laws are decidedly inferior to ours. In ^ ct OTy Satls 
practically no country do we find laws similar to those child labor 
enacted in our American states, 2 which prohibit the aws ' 
work of children in factories and other occupations be- 
fore the age of fourteen. To be sure, France and Ger- 
many forbid much child work under thirteen, and Great 
Britain 3 and most other European countries do not allow 
children to work until they are twelve. Usually, however, 

1 See Ashley, The New Civics, §§ 8, 9, 130, 251, 255-259. 

2 See Ashley, The New Civics, §§ 262-263. 

3 Among the educational provisions for children granted by the recent 
reform laws of Great Britain is the law of 1906, which provides meals for 
poor school children who otherwise would be hungry. 



670 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Inadequate 
protection 
of youthful 
and women 
workers. 



General 
education 
before the 
nineteenth 
century. 



the younger children are allowed to work- before or after 
school, even in factories, at occupations which would 
not be permitted by American laws. 

Young persons above the age of thirteen are not safe- 
guarded as well as children, but almost everywhere in 
Western and Central Europe boys and girls under eighteen 
and women are forbidden to work in mines or at night. 
In this respect Germany is an exception, because she 
allows boys of fourteen to work in her coal mines. More- 
over, the hours of work for European women are prac- 
tically the same as for men, and are usually at least 
eleven hours a day. In France and Belgium, however, 
one day a week must be taken as a day of rest, and one or 
two other countries declare that no work shall be done 
on Sunday. 

Education and Science 

495. Public Education before the Nineteenth Century. 
— Public education is distinctively a thing of the last 
century ; usually it is closely associated with the de- 
velopment of democracy. As we shall recall, schools were 
fairly numerous during the Middle Ages, and particularly 
after the beginning of the Reformation. But these were 
not public schools because they were connected with the 
churches of the different parishes, and were usually 
taught by the priests or their assistants. Scotland was 
among the first of the countries to make provision for 
grammar schools in practically every parish, yet each 
Scotch school belonged to the " kirk " rather than to the 
community ; it was for the purpose of preparing a boy for 
the university in order that he might enter the ministry 
rather than that he might be educated for other work. 

France, with the beginning of the great Revolution, 
planned a complete scheme of public education (§ 169), 
but her plan was an unfulfilled dream. 



SOCIAL WELFARE WORK 671 

496. Education in England. — Although church schools Slow growth 
and some town schools were in use in England as early education in 
as the sixteenth century/ little progress was made in England, 
development of public education in England before 1870. 
After the middle of the nineteenth century the govern- 
ment made grants of money to some schools, but the 
amount was proportional to the results obtained, and 
the results were determined by inspection and examina- 
tion. The evils of the system of " payment by results " 
were numerous and serious. 

By the educational act of 1870 (§ 345), in each com- Educational 
munity there was created a board which had charge of *°d °9 2 87 ° 
free primary schools. If necessary, books, clothing, and 
some meals were furnished to the students, and the 
board schools long carried the stigma of being the charity 
schools which they had replaced. Later, all schools, 
public and denominational, were brought under the county 
councils (§ 360), and to-day most English primary schools 
are supported by the public, although some of them are 
controlled by the established church or by the Wes'ley-an. 
church. 

Public education has not made great progress in Great English 
Britain, and the system of primary schools is not well sch °? ls ' 
organized or developed. English grammar schools fre- private, 
quently have advanced courses for boys and girls to the 
age of fifteen or sixteen. Many reforms were proposed 
in the educational act before Parliament in 1918. Most 
of the high schools of England are private, and many of 
them, such as E'ton, date back to the period of the 
Renaissance. There is real need of reorganizing second- 
ary education throughout the kingdom. Some of the 
older universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, fur- 
nish an excellent education, and many cities, such as 
London, Birmingham, and Manchester, have established 
1 E. E. C, § 718. 



672 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Character 
and pur- 
pose of 
English 
education. 



General 
purpose of 
German 
elementary 
education. 



colleges which give a more practical education than is 
found in the classical universities. 

The English system is not very democratic, nor is the 
instruction as thorough as one might expect. Teachers 
are likely to be selected for their influence rather than 
for their ability, because stress is placed upon the devel- 
opment of character rather than upon the acquisition 
of knowledge. 

497. Education in Germany. — In Germany education 
is under the supervision of the separate states of the 
empire; but the school system is an integral part of the 
whole German scheme (§§ 302-303). German schools 
are class institutions with lower or semi-trade schools for 
the common people 1 and higher schools for the upper 
classes. Particular attention is paid to giving students 
an immense amount of information, and severe examina- 
tions occur with remarkable regularity. 2 Nevertheless, 
the main object of the elementary schools is to teach the 
child to obey and to understand that he is but a part of 
the great state machine. He is therefore not trained to 
do his own thinking, or to be independent, but to work 
hard, and to do as he is told. Coupled with the char- 
acteristics of the north German, who is " incapable of 
freely understanding the moods of other nations, and 
of living in harmony with other people," 3 this education 
has produced dire results, as shown in the history of recent 



1 In some industrial centers of southern and western Germany con- 
tinuation schools have been established, in which instruction is given 
about six hours a week to youthful workers in the shops and factories, the 
time being taken from their hours of work. It is of course practically 
impossible to go from the higher grades of the elementary school and from 
the continuation schools into higher institutions of learning. 

2 So strenuous is the German method, and so exacting the examina- 
tions, that more than 10,000 suicides occur each year among students 
of the country. Some of these are due to overstrain, but many are 
caused by failures in examination. 

3 Rohrbach, German World Policies, p. 221. 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 673 

years. It can thus be seen that Germany educates the 
classes in one way and the masses in another. 

For the student who belongs to the higher social classes, Higher 
or who has shown in the primary grades particular apti- jch°° ls in 
tude, there are gymnasia or classical schools, in which 
special attention is given to Greek and Latin, and boys' 
schools and some girls' schools in which particular at- 
tention is given to modern languages and science. 

The German universities are well attended. Besides Highest 
the older classical universities there are technical institu- cl assicaiand 

scientific 

tions which specialize in science and applied science, institutions. 
It is to be noted, however, that although these German 
institutions are graduating very well-informed scholars 
whose work is characterized by excessive thorough- 
ness, Germany has produced comparatively few of the 
world's great scientists or thinkers. 

498. Education in France. — The French system of Centralized 
education, based as it is upon the scientifically arranged French 
scheme of Napoleon (§ 169), is the most orderly and elementary 
complete to be found anywhere in the world. It is educatl0n - 
very highly centralized, for the educational authorities 
in Paris direct the whole scheme, and the prefect, who is 
the political head of the department, legally if not actually 
appoints all school teachers. The French system pro- 
vides for compulsory education of girls as well as boys 
during the primary and grammar grade school ages. 
Each community has its public school, in which par- 
ticular attention is given to moral and civic instruction, 
mathematics, French, history, geography, and science. 
The students are taught carefully, but out-of-door sports 
and independent methods are not encouraged. For a 
student who finishes the grammar grades and secures his 
certificate of promotion, higher schools are provided. 

The French secondary school covers the years corre- 
sponding to our intermediate and high schools. The 

2x 



674 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Secondary 
and higher 
schools. 



public schools are of two kinds, those maintained by the 
state, the Lycees, 1 and the local schools known as col- 
leges. Besides these public schools are the private col- 
leges maintained by the Jesuits and other religious orders. 
Particular attention is paid to Latin, Greek, and French, 
but foreign modern languages are taught, and many 
students take history, geography, and science. The 
instruction is frequently of the lecture notebook char- 




A French Lycee, Paris 



acter, and the work of the school is described by all ob- 
servers as rather lifeless and uninteresting. Above the 
higher grammar schools and the regular secondary schools 
are the French universities. About one half of the uni- 
versity students in the whole of France are to be found 
in the University in Paris, which has a large number of 
distinguished colleges. 

1 The courses in history for upper grammar grades and secondary 
schools are considered, by many competent scholars, the best in the 
world. 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 



675 



499. Modern Scientific Progress. — The last hundred 
years are distinguished not only as a century of public 
education, but as a century of marvelous scientific and 
technical progress. It seems incredible that less than 
four centuries ago Co-per'ni-cus l was afraid to publish his 
epoch-making ideas in regard to the nature of our uni- 
verse. We do not know very much }^et about the solar 
system in which we live, but with the improvement of 
giant telescopes, with the progress of astronomical mathe- 
matics, physics, chemistry, geology, and zoology, we do 
know more than we did about ourselves, the animal world, 
the earth, our solar system, and the universe of which 
our planet is an infini- 
tesimal part. It would 
be impossible in a single 
section even to give a 
list of the names of the 
great scientists of the 
last century or two. 

Our knowledge of our- 
selves and of this earth 
owes much to two men. 
One of these is the ge- 
ologist, Lyell, who first 
gave us in scientific and 
popular form a good 
idea of the extreme antiquity of the earth. 2 Following 
Lyell came Charles Darwin, who in 1859 published his 
book on " The Origin of Species." Darwin's writings gave 
impetus to the modern ideas that all organisms and organ- 

>E. E. C, § 728. 

2 He showed that some of the layers of rock found exposed on the 
earth's surface or at considerable depth must have been made ages ago 
by processes similar to those occurring at the bottoms of lakes and 
oceans, at the present time. By the finding of fossil remains, he showed 
that animal life must have existed on this planet in very remote ages. 




Charles Darwin 



Great ad- 
vance in 
human 
scientific 
knowledge. 



The world' 
debt to 
Lyell and 
Darwin. 



676 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Progress of 

some 

sciences 

especially 

valuable to 

man. 



Preparation 
before 1800 
for rapid 
mechanical 
develop- 
ment. 



izations grow, that some of them as they change are better 
adapted to their environment, that is, conditions in which 
they exist, than others, and that those which are best 
adapted are most likely to survive. These ideas, applied 
at first only to animals and plants, have revolutionized 
practically all sciences and other studies, because nowadays 
history and sociology, as well as zoology and botany, are 
studies of organizations which are growing and changing. 
To the general process of orderly growth the name evolu- 
tion is applied, but evolution must not be confused with the 
specific ideas suggested by Darwin, i.e. with Darwinism. 
In the realm of philosophy the writings of Herbert Spencer 
were influenced by Darwin. 

Among the marvelous scientific discoveries of recent 
decades have been those connected with electricity, which 
is not only a modern but a recent subject, and those as- 
sociated with chemistry, particularly the character of the 
elements of nature and the way in which those elements 
are combined to form substances and compounds. Many 
scholars specialize on the study of physico-chemical en- 
ergy. Among the most distinguished achievements of the 
nineteenth century were the discoveries by Louis Pas-teur f 
regarding the nature of bacteria, the minute organisms 
which are found everywhere in the animal and plant world. 
His researches showed that many diseases are due to 
special kinds of bacteria or germs, and many of his suc- 
cessors have been able successfully to combat a deadly 
disease by learning the nature and habits of some of 
these dangerous parasites. 

500. Inventions and Development. — The nineteenth 
century and of course later years are distinguished for 
marvelous mechanical changes. The close of the eighteenth 
century witnessed the invention of a series of machines 
which revolutionized methods of spinning and weaving,' 
and the perfection of the steam engine, which utilized 




SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS 677 

the wonderful forces of steam. It is not strange, there- 
fore, that the nineteenth century should have seen the 
creation of mechanical processes and instruments which 
make it possible in the early twentieth century to create 
and to destroy much more than in previous centuries, and 
to travel on land, by sea, under the sea, or in the air. 

Even a list of new inventions or mechanisms would be Nineteenth 
appallingly long. The steam locomotive and the steam- ^^ders 
boat we mentioned in connection with early nineteenth 
century history (§ 192). The telegraph also belongs to 
that period, but the 
telephone is a develop- 
ment of the last quar- 
ter of the nineteenth 
century. Photography, 
which is performing 
miracles now com- 
monplace, in sketch- 
ing scenes on the 
battlefield or in the 
study of stars which 
otherwise are unknown 

•. • • -i-i -i Herbert Spencer 

and invisible, may be 

practiced by those who can afford an inexpensive camera 
and know enough to press a button and to turn a roll. 
The cylinder printing press, invented less than a hundred 
years ago, makes possible a diffusion of knowledge which 
in turn demands that all men should read. Control of 
fire, for which Prometheus, according to the Greek 
legend, dared the wrath of the gods and suffered unending 
torture, is furnished to all practically without cost by the 
humble friction match. 

Among the mechanical wonders of modern years are 
the arc light, the incandescent lamp, the automobile, the 
airplane, and hundreds of others, less known perhaps, but 



678 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



More 
modern 
mechanical 
miracles. 



The old 
order and 
the Great 
War. 



Absolutist, 
militarist, 
and unjust 
character of 
autocratic 
rule. 



filling a very important place in the newer world. With- 
out the development of great factories, huge modern 
cities would not be needed, but it would not be possible 
to construct them if we did not have steel sky-scrapers or 
huge reenforced concrete buildings. Commerce over seas 
could not be developed to the vast proportions attained 
in recent years but for the huge steel steamships longer 
than a city block, and as high as most city buildings. 

Progress and Problems 

501. The Old Order. — Every one understands that 
before the French Revolution there was an old order or 
" ancien regime " ; but many people do not realize that 
before the Great War there existed, at least in Central 
and Eastern Europe, another old order, more modern 
than that of the eighteenth century and different in many 
respects, but nevertheless a true ancient regime from the 
standpoint of America and the twentieth century. Wars 
always bring great changes, and the greatest war of his- 
tory undoubtedly will produce greater changes than any 
previous series of conflicts. For years to come, the old 
order will be changing, " yielding place to new." 

The old order of the early twentieth century was dis- 
tinguished by the extreme development of separate 
nations ; and each nation was often out of sympathy for, 
and contemptuous of, its neighbors. To carry out their 
own national plans, ideas, and schemes, many of the 
Great Powers depended upon systems of militarism, 
maintained by conscription, and involving vast expendi- 
tures, and therefore heavy taxes. As a rule, these nations 
and schemes were not democratic, but were intended to 
further the ambitious plans of absolute rulers and of 
military court parties that cared nothing for the people 
who fought their wars and paid their bills. As a rule, also, 
these members of the royal house and these nobles had 



PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS 679 

vast estates and an extraordinary amount of political 
power or influence, and numerous privileges which were 
denied to the ordinary citizen. They looked upon them- 
selves as the lords of creation, and they acted accordingly. 

The common people were as numerous as the third Degraded 
estate and the lower estates of France before 1789, and condition of 

' the common 

they had just as little real share in the government of people, 
their country or in opportunities to better their condition 
and gain for themselves decent standards of living. They 
were to a large extent in a state of bondage. This was 
especially true of women, who had no real social or legal 
rights, and of those people whose ignorance prevented them 
from rising out of the state into which they were born. 
Even before 1914 there were movements, in addition to 
those mentioned in this chapter and the preceding chap- Peace and 
ters, for the general betterment of Europe. Efforts p neral . 

. . . numamta- 

were made, chiefly by America and the countries of rian move- 
the Triple Entente, to create peace tribunals, and to ments - 
agree upon certain rules and regulations which would 
be observed by all civilized peoples. Two Hague 
Conferences, held in 1899 and 1907, sought to main- 
tain peace, to make such rules, to create peace 
tribunals, and to bring about a better understanding 
among the Great Powers. Events since 1914 show how 
fanciful were the ideas and how futile the plans of the 
peace advocates under the old order of the early twen- 
tieth century. Organizations such as the Red Cross, 
started by a large-hearted humanitarian after the battle 
of Solferino (§ 238), had grown to giant proportions, 
ready to relieve suffering and distress everywhere. 

502. War and Changed Conditions. — We cannot War 
foresee what may be the ultimate effect of the Great War p °™: war 
on the old order of the early twentieth century ; but we ments, and 
do know that it has^ already changed absolutely many c< ? ndltlons 

. . # £LlL6r p6£lCG« 

conditions in Europe and America. Every country has 



680 



MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Financial 
burdens 
after war. 



reorganized its government on a war basis and has con- 
ferred upon some person or group of persons almost dictato- 
rial powers. Human life has been sacrificed on a scale 
unprecedented since the days of the Assyrians and At- 
tila the Hun. Wealth as well as men has been placed 
at the complete disposal of the different governments, 
which in addition have regulated food supplies and con- 
trolled many details of life hitherto undisturbed even in 
Germany or Russia. The extreme concentration of 
authority in the hands of a few becomes, however, a 
menace to democracy if retained after war ceases. In 
many countries a struggle will ensue between those who 
have gained power and those who have conferred it. 
Undoubtedly the ultimate victory will be with the people, 
but the temporary advantage may be with a new au- 
tocracy, unless peace terms can make democracy uni- 
versal. 

Although conditions growing out of the war may be 
favorable to the creation of a new and better order 
of things, that is only one side of the picture. Tem- 
porarily at least the outlook seems discouraging. Al- 
ready millions have been killed and tens of millions 
maimed. In every one of the warring countries there 
will be armies of cripples, maimed or so weakened by 
disease or wounds that they cannot carry the full bur- 
den of a man's work ; and in some cases they may be 
purely and simply a burden to society. Everywhere 
schools have been opened for the training of these war 
cripples in the work for which they are fitted. In many 
cases their education must begin anew, because by edu- 
cation they can retain their self-respect and become useful 
workers. 

Before January, 1918, the total increase in war 
debts amounted to more than the total wealth of 
Great Britain before the war broke out. This vast 



PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS 681 

sum did not include huge amounts raised by taxation, 
nor did it take any account of property destroyed, 
nor of wealth that would have been produced had 
there been no conflict, nor of other indirect costs of 
the war. It is impossible to measure these losses. But 
the burden of heavy taxes and the weight of huge debts 
will remain with the nations for years and possibly genera- 
tions to come. These are a few of the numerous handi- 
caps with which the generation after the war will start its 
new struggle along the upward path of civilization. 

503. Future Policies and Problems. — Peace terms Some prob- 
mav mark out new national boundaries, but -peace treaties lems of the 

° . govern- 

cannot solve national problems. Neither peace conferences ments after 
nor governments, but the peoples must decide what war - 
ideas should be theirs in the years to come. Shall they 
keep their old class distinctions, or shall those be aban- 
doned? What privileges can and should be retained? 
To what extent shall the law recognize democracy, not 
in prescribing who may vote, but in giving a government 
" of the people, for the people, and by the people "? To 
be really democratic there must be an economic democracy 
as well as one that is political. Will the proletarian find 
that this struggle will give him rights and opportunities 
such as he deserves, because he has fought bravely and 
without thought of self? Or will the shortage of labor, 
the increased influence of capital, make him more than 
ever the tool of the man of wealth? 

The work of reconstruction will be world wide, and The task of 
yet the actual task of restoration will be different in the res *oration 

J . in the war 

war area from that found elsewhere, since the people of areas, 
heroic little Belgium, of devastated eastern France, of 
stricken Poland, and of ravaged Serbia have paid for 
humanity a price that is inestimable. Upon humanity 
should be laid the burden of reconstruction for those suf- 
fering races. The method by which this work shall be 



682 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

done differs in different areas, but it should be done, 
and well done, by others. 

It is futile to ask whether war losses will exceed war 
gains. Certainly many of the present losses will have 
been useless if such a world conflict could ever again 
arise. Humanity will be agreed that in the future no 
" Potsdam gang " and Potsdam conference can drench 
Europe in blood. If there is militarism, it will be mili- 
tarism established by a league of the nations to main- 
tain the peace, not only of those countries, but of the 
whole world. 

The great problem of the future is not the organization 
of leagues for the maintenance of the peace of the world, 
but rather a true comprehension of humanity and its 
problems. We cannot change the old order of the twen- 
tieth century into a Utopia. If history teaches any les- 
son, it teaches this, that progress must be slow, that 
humanity does not develop through gifts, nor by abrupt 
development, but acquires its civilization by a severe 
upward struggle, a little at a time. If we but have judg- 
ment to know what is best of the old, and are permitted 
to keep some of that, we shall have made some progress. 
Better education is at the foundation of any really suc- 
cessful change. The European nations must learn what 
democracy is before they can become democratic. They 
must learn to use that democracy before they can under- 
stand what human rights are, and they must comprehend 
human rights and the obligations which go with human 
rights before they can work out problems of human wel- 
fare. As we have sent our soldiers by millions across the 
water to fight the battles of humanity, in the years fol- 
lowing the great struggle, we must help our European 
brothers, through our better knowledge and through our 
greater experience of the ways of democracy. 



PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS 683 



General References 

Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, 227-292, 308- 
336. 

Hayes (ed.), British Social Politics. 

Alden, Democratic England. 

Frankel and Dawson, Workingmen's Insurance in Europe. 

Rubinow, Social Insurance ; Standards of Health Insurance. 

Woods, English Social Movements. 

Aschrott and Thomas, The English Poor Law System, Past 
and Present. 

Hughes, The Making of Citizens, a Study in Comparative 
Education. 

Farrington, The Public Primary Schools System of France; 
French Secondary Schools; Commercial Education in Germany. 

Sedgwick and Tyler, Short History of Science, 328-398. 

Burns, The Story of Great Inventions. 

Cochrane, Modern Industrial Progress; Wonders of Modern 
Mechanism. 

Wallace, et al., The Wonderful Century. 

Cressy, Discoveries and Inventions of the Twentieth Century. 



Topics 

Sickness Insurance : Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary 
Europe, 258-260, 272-274, 279-280, 283-292 ; Alden, Democratic 
England, 122-143 ; Frankel and Dawson, Workingmen's Insur- 
ance in Europe, 147-159, 169-227 ; Rubinow, Social Insurance, 
224-280. 

Unemployment : Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary 
Europe, 250-254, 274-279; Alden, Democratic England, 87- 
121; Hayes (ed.), British Social Politics, 185-216; also Ch. X; 
Pigou, Unemployment, 203-241 ; Rubinow, Social Insurance, 
441-479. 

Care of the Child : Alden, Democratic England, 28-61 ; 
Hayes (ed.), British Social Politics, 107-129; Bliss (ed.), New 
Encyclopedia of Social Reform, 177-187. 

German Education : Tower, Germany of To-day, 129-159 ; 
Howe, Socialized Germany, 208-247 ; Barker, Modern Germany, 
453-484. 



684 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 



Studies 

1. Industrial accidents and their compensation. Carlton, 
History and Problems of Organized Labor, 300-310. 

2. The problem of old age from the British point of view. 
Alden, Democratic England, 144—164. 

3. Opposition in the House of Commons to the British Old 
Age Pension bill. Hayes (ed), British Social Politics, 143-151. 

4. The English poor law of 1834. Slater, Making of Modern 
England, 99-106. 

5. Report of the Poor Law Commission (1909). Hayes 
(ed.), British Social Politics, 187-191. 

6. Land-holding on the Continent. Ogg, Economic Develop- 
ment of Modern Europe, 188-192, 201-204. 

7. Land monopoly and relief in England. Alden, Demo- 
cratic England, 243-253. 

8. The war and women workers. Abbott, E., in Journal 
Political Economy, 25 (1917), 641-678. 

9. Care of children's health in England. Alden, Demo- 
cratic England, 28-52. 

10. Improved sanitation in England. Slater, Making of 
Modern England, 160-173. 

11. English educational systems in the nineteenth century. 
Tickner, Social and Industrial History of England, 621-636. 

12. Education under the Third French Republic. Guerard, 
French Civilization in the Nineteenth Century, 239-252. 

13. German colleges of commerce. Farrington, Commercial 
Education in Germany, 196-218. 

14. Progress in printing. Cochrane, Wonders of Modern 
Mechanism, 348-362. 

15. The electric locomotive. Cochrane, Wonders of Modern 
Mechanism, 187-196. 

16. The telegraph. Burns, The Story of Great Inventions, 
126-139. 

17. The telephone. Burns, The Story of Great Inventions, 
140-147. 

18. Wireless telegraphy. Burns, The Story of Great In- 
ventions, 208-221. 

Questions 

1. What are the objections to charity as a real remedy for 
social problems? Why should society help pay the bills for 



SOCIAL BETTERMENT 685 

industrial accidents, unemployment, old age, and sickness? 
Name objections to public help as a relief for any of them. 

2. Compare the plans used in Europe or in this country for 
the compensation of injured workers. What is the difference 
between compulsory sickness insurance and voluntary insur- 
ance? Describe the British system. 

3. If workers should be pensioned by society when they 
become old, can society compel them to work in their youth? 
Explain the old age pension systems in use in England and on 
the Continent. To what extent have voluntary agencies been 
able to solve the unemployment problem? How have Great 
Britain and Germany attempted to work out that problem? 

4. How was poverty relieved in the Middle Ages? What 
systems were used after the Reformation, but before modern 
times? Compare the English poor laws from the time of Eliza- 
beth to the present, explaining excellencies of each. What have 
been the French and German methods of caring for the poor ? 

5. Do you find that the countries with the smallest area 
and largest population have large or small landholdings ? In 
what parts of Europe do you find small holdings predominating ? 
Can you explain why? Show what has been done in Great 
Britain to increase the number of small proprietors or tenants. 
Has anything been done since 1914 in central and eastern Europe 
to distribute land from large estates among former tenants? 

6. Compare the position of the American girl and woman 
with that of her sisters in Great Britain. Show how English 
women are better off than those on the Continent. (In each 
case consider social position, legal rights, marriage customs, busi- 
ness opportunities, and conditions of work.) Compare child 
labor laws in this country and in Europe. 

7. Which countries of Europe have free public schools 
for all, and give real opportunity for their use? Why was 
Scotland a pioneer in education ? Give the history of education 
in England from the Middle Ages. Why does the English edu- 
cational system leave much to be desired? How does Ger- 
many insist upon class education? What are the defects of 
elementary instruction in that country? 

8. Give the commercial advantages of scientific education 
in German technical institutions. Why should science be taught 
more and better in the high schools of America ? In what re- 
spects is the French educational system exceptionally well 
organized? What can we learn from the French system, for 



686 MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 

example, in historical instruction ? Name two defects of French 
schools. 

9. Can you name any period in history before the Renais- 
sance particularly distinguished for its scientific advance? 
Explain. Give some idea of modern scientific progress from 
Copernicus to Lyell and Darwin. How did those two men 
change our ideas in regard to our universe? Give some idea of 
progress in physics and chemistry. 

10. Why do we refer to the last hundred years as the wonderful 
century? Name some machines or processes which did not 
exist in 1800, and explain at least three in a general way. 

11. Make a careful study of the old regime that existed before 
the French Revolution (§§ 140, 146). Show what was the status 
of the people and the governments, in the early twentieth cen- 
tury, in central and eastern Europe. (Consider the same subjects 
as before, and if necessary others.) 

12. Name a danger that has arisen out of the Great War. 
If military dictatorship survives in this country and in Europe 
after the war, would it not prevent the further development 
of democracy ? What must be done to make European countries 
and governments democratic after the conflict has closed? 
Name several reasons why "the world must be made safe for 
democracy" and also name several ways in which it may be done. 

13. Discuss fully at least two other problems of readjustment 
or reconstruction after the Great War. What can we do to help 
solve these problems? In the study of recent European his- 
tory, what is the importance of knowing American history and 
of understanding conditions and problems in America to-day? 









APPENDIX 



I. TABLE OF SOVEREIGNS 



England 

Stuart Line (1603-1714) 
James I (1603-1625) 
Charles I (1625-1649) 
Oliver Cromwell, Lord 

Protector (1653-1658) 
Richard Cromwell (1658- 

1660) 
Charles II (1660-1685) 

James II (1685-1688) 

William and Mary (1689- 

1702) 
Anne (1702-1714) 
Hanoverian Line (1714-1901) 
George I (1714-1727) 
George II (1727-1760) 

George III (1760-1820) 



Fkance 



Other Countries 



Louis XIV (1643-1715) 



Louis XV (1715-1774) 
Louis XVI (1774-1792) 



George IV (1820-1830) 
William IV (1830-1837) 
Victoria (1837-1901) 



The First Republic (1792 

1799) 
The Consulate (1799-1804) 
Empire of Napoleon (1804- Alexander I 

1815) (Russia) 

The Restoration (1814-1848) 
Louis XVIII (1814-1824) 
Charles X (1824-1830) 
Louis Philippe (1830-1848) 
The Second Republic 

(1848-1852) 
The Second Empire (1852- 

1870) 
The Third Republic 

(1870- ) 



Frederick William (1640- 
1688) (Brandenburg) 

Peter the Great (1682- 
1725) (Russia) 

Philip V( 1700-1746) (Bour- 
bon king of Spain) 



Frederick the Great (1740- 

1786) (Prussia) 
Maria Theresa (1740-1780) 

(Austria) 
Joseph II (1765-1790) 

(emperor) 



(1801-1825) 



Windsor Line (1901- ) 
Edward VII (1901-1910) 
George V (1910- 



Alexander II (1855-1881) 

(Russia) 
Victor Emmanuel (1861- 

1878) (Italy) 
William I (1871-1888) 

(Germany) 
Francis Joseph II (1848- 

1916) (Austria-H.) 
William II (1888- ) 

(Germany) 
Nicholas II (1894-1917) 

(Russia) 
Victor Emmanuel II 

(1900- ) (Italy) 
Karl I (Austria-H.) 

(1916- ) 



687 



688 



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INDEX 



Abdul Hamid II, 537, 542-543 
Absentee landholders, Irish, 466- 

467, 468-169 
Absolutism ; 

early modern, 2-3, 31-37, 41-42, 
Ch. Ill, 129-130, 131, 134, 142, 
211-215 
German in twentieth century, 
368, 382, 383 
Accidents, industrial, 661 
Act of supremacy, the, 20 
Addison, Joseph, 52 
Administration, municipal, 628, 
629. 
See also Government under dif- 
ferent countries 
Afghanistan, 502 
Africa ; 

exploration of, 527-529 
French in, 336-337 
geography of, 526-527 
Italians in, 350 
partitions of, 529-533 
Agadir affair, 533, 564 
Agrarian question in Germany, 

380. 
Agrarian revolution in England, 

228-231 
Agriculture ; 

early modern, 6-7, 222-223, 228- 

230, 248-253, 423-434, 438 
at present, 341-342, 347-349, 
355, 380, 388-390, 400, 402- 
403, 407, 457, 516 
Air forces, work of, 603-604 
Aix-la-Chapelle, conference at, 213 
Albania, 351, 545, 568 
Albert, king, 356 
Aldermen, British, 627 
Alexander II, 400-402 
Alexander III, 401, 402 
Alexandria, 492, 494 



Algeciras conference, 532, 562-564 
Algeria, French conquest of, 531 
Alliances; 

German with Austria, 551-552 

Japanese, 521 

Triple, 552-553 

See also Ententes 
Alsace-Lorraine, 332, 338-340 

German seizure of, 320 
America. See United States 
Amiens, peace of, 176 
Anne, queen of England, 45-46 

England during reign of, 49-56 
Anti-corn law league, 439 
Anti-trust laws, 650-651 
Antwerp, 365, 584 n. 
Apprenticeship laws, British, 435- 

436 
Arbitration, industrial, 656 
Arkwright, 232 
Armed neutrality, 176 
Armenians, massacre of, 535 n. 
Army; 

American, 595-596 

European, 573 
Arthur, Port, 520 
Asia; 

French in, 337 

English in, 495-502 

new nations of, Ch. XIX 
Assembly of the notables, 149 
Assignats, French, 156-157 
Association, French act of, 1901, 

335 
Atrocities, Belgian, 357, 582 
Augsburg, peace of, 20 
Augustine age of English literature, 

52-53 
Ausgleich, the Austro-Hungarian, 

385, 386-387 
Austerlitz, 181-182 
Australia, 485-488 



691 



692 



INDEX 



Austria; 

after 1796, 173-174, 176, 180-182, 
186-187, 189-191 

Balkan interests of, 566 

See also Bosnia and Jugo-Slavs 

empire of, 182, 201 

failure of, after 1851, 304-305 

near-eastern policy of, 551, 568- 
569 

restoration in, 212 

revolutions in, 274-281 

territorial changes of, 211 

war of France with, in 1792, 158, 
165-166 

war of, with Sardinia, 298-299 
Austria-Hungary ; 

government of, 384-386 

history and problems of, 384, 
386-390 

land and people of, 383-384 
Austrian Succession, War of, 79, 99 

Bacon, Sir Francis, 24 
Bagdad, 379, 542, 591 
Balance of power, eighteenth cen- 
tury plan of. See Hundred 
Years' War, Second 
Balfour, A. J., 448, 455 
Balkan ; 

alliances, 544 

policy of Russia, 411-412 

problems of the, 539-541, 544-545 

wars, 508-509, 544-545 
Ballot, Australian, 446 
Baltic provinces, 397, 414 
Bank; 

of England, 48 

German imperial, 372, 378 
Banking, 48, 342-343, 378 
Baptists, 56-57 
Barrage fire, 603-604 
Bastile, fall of, 153 
Batavian republic, 166 
Beauharnais, Josephine, 173 
Beccaria, 121 
Belgian atrocities, 357 
Belgian Congo, 530 
Belgian Netherlands, war of Louis 

XIV on, 67 
Belgium ; 

army of, 573 

care of poor in, 665 



Belgium — Continued 
conquest of, 580-582 
independence and neutrality of, 

354-357 
land problem of, 667 n. 
restoration of, 681 
violation of neutrality, 579, 580 
wars in, 67, 627 
Beluchistan, 501-502 
Bengal, province of, 104, 499 
Berlin to Bagdad railway, 379, 

542 
Berlin decree, 183 
Berlin, rioting in, in 1848, 280 
Berlin, treaty of, 538-539 
Bessemer, 648 

Bethmann-Hollweg, 573, 580 
Bill of Rights, 42-43 
Bismarck, Otto von, 530 
appointment of, 306 
character and training, 306 
colonial policy of, 530, 554 
empire-building work of, 307- 

311, 317-320 
methods of, 306-309, 317-318, 

373, 550 
policies of, as imperial chancellor, 

372-375 
relations of, with Austria, 308- 

310, 550-553 
relations of, with France, 309, 
316-320, 556 
Blanc, Louis, 273, 633 n. 
Blenheim, battle of, 69 
Blood and iron, German policy of, 
306-307, 381 
See also Germany 
Blucher, 191 

Board of trade, English, 97 
Boer War, 449, 490-491 
Boers in South Africa, 489-491 
Bohemia, Czech movement in, 277- 

278, 387 
Bolsheviki, 414-415 
Bonaparte, Joseph, 186 
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 172-195, 

200-202, 205, 206-208 
Boroughs, rotten, 426, 427, 429 
Bosnia, 539, 543, 551-552, 564-565 
Boulanger, General, 332-333 
Bourbons, overthrow of, in France, 
268 



INDEX 



693 



Bourgeoisie, French, 13-14, 146, 330 

Boxer revolt, 512-513 

Brandenburg, early history of, 77 

Brest-Litovsk, 414 

Bright, John, 438, 439 

British characteristics, 459-460 

British empire, 481-483 

in Africa, 489-495 

in Australia, 485-489 

in Canada, 483-485 

historical development of, 91- 
97, 101-105, 483-484, 489- 
491, 498-500 

in India, 495-501 

reorganization of , after 1763, 105- 
106 
British India ; 

government of, 500 

provinces of, 500-501 
Brusiloff, 585 
Bucharest, 545 
Buckingham, Duke of, 34 
Buddhism, 497 n. 
Budget, Lloyd George, 451 
Bulgaria, 537, 538, 539-540, 544- 

545, 568, 587 
Bundesrath, the, 311, 369 

Cabinet government, British, 46- 
48, 420, 421, 462-463 

Cadets, Russian, 409 

Cadorna, General, 590 

Cahiers, 150-151 

Campo Formio, treaty of, 174 

Canada; 

economic conditions of, 485 
European struggle for, 101-103, 

105 
government of, at present, 484 
political development of, 483- 
484 

Canals, public, 235, 631 

Cape Colony, 489, 491 

Capital and labor ; 

economic relations of, 652-657 
other relations of, 660-664 

Capitalism, modern, 223, 240, 342, 
644-646, 652 

Carbonari, the, 282 

Carlsbad decrees, 214 

Carnot, Lazare, 165 

Carolinas, settlement of, 96 



Carrying trade ; 

early Dutch, 90 

modern British, 459, 643 
Cartels, German, 642, 650 
Cartwright, 232 
Castes, Indian, 497 
Catherine II, 74-75 
Catholic emancipation, 433, 468 
Catholics ; 

English laws regarding, 41, 433, 
466, 468 

German laws against, 372-373 
Caucasus region, 398 
Cavaignac, General, 273, 274 
Cavour, Camillo de, 295-301 
Centralization, 142, 177, 367, 372, 
620, 627, 629, 673 

See also Absolutism 
Chamber of Deputies ; 

French, 328-330 

Italian, 345-346 
Chamberlain, Joseph, 447, 448, 

450 
Chambord, Count of, 268, 325, 327- 

328 
Champlain, 97 

Chancellor, German, 368-369 
Characteristics, national; 

British, 359-360 

French, 344-345 

German, 381-383 
Charles I of England, 34-39, 465 
Charles II, 40-41 
Charles X of France, 267-268 
Charles XII, wars of, with Peter the 

Great, 73 
Charles Albert of Sardinia, 284, 

285, 295 
Chartists in Great Britain, 430-431 
Chemistry, 259, 676 
Cheney, E. P., quoted, 231 n. 
Children, 262-263, 435-437, 669- 
670 

See also Education 
Chimney sweeps, legislation pro- 
tecting, 435 
China; 

history of, 509-514 

land and people. 508-509 

problems of, 514-515 
Chinese Gordon, 510 n. 
Chino-Japanese war, 511, 520 



694 



INDEX 



Church ; 

medieval, 17 

Roman Catholic, 18-20, 178-179, 
301, 334-336, 347-348 
Church and State, 19-21, 44 

in England, 20-21, 433, 446, 466 
in France before 1800, 19-20, 157 
in France, 1801-1905, 178-179, 

334-336 
in Germany, 20, 372-373 
Cities ; 

early modern, 9-10, 49-51 
at present, 341, 625-626, 630 
Civil constitution of the clergy, 

French, 157 
Civil liberty. See Liberty, civil. 
Civil rights, 623-624 
Civil war, English, 38 
Civilization ; 

in early nineteenth century, 204- 
208, 285-289, 432-437, Chs. 
IX, X 
in seventeenth and eighteenth 

centuries, Ch. I, 140-147 
in twentieth century, 
British, 455-464 
European in general, Chs. 

XXIIT-XXV 
French, 337-345 
German, 378-383 
Clergy, position and privileges of, 

before 1789, 144-145 
Clothier capitalists, English, 227 
Coal, 235, 457, 509, 647 
Coalition cabinet, 454-455 
Cobden, Sir Richard, 439 
Codes, law, 74, 80, 131, 178, 207 
German, 372 
Japanese, 518 
Napoleonic, 207 
Coffee houses, English, 50—51 
Coke, 234, 647 n. 
Colbert, 65-66 
Colonial empire, struggle for, Chs, 

IV, XX 
Colonies; 

in Africa, 528-533 

in America, 91-99, 101-108 

British, 481-501 

commerce of, 483, 485, 528-529, 

530, 532, 643-644 
French, 336-337, 531-533 



Colonies — Continued 
German, 376, 530 
Italian, 350, 530-531 
Colonization, early European 
extent of, 93-105 
motives and methods of, 91-93 
Combinations, industrial, 650 
Commerce ; 
African, 529 

American, and war, 592-594 
British, 183, 215, 242, 244, 423, 

483, 510-511 
early modern, 14-17, 85-91, 
100-101, 103, 240-244, 422- 
423 
eastern, 16 
European with America, 17, 86- 

91 
French, 255-257, 637 
German, 257-258, 376, 378-379, 

641-643 
international, 637-644 
Japanese, 519 
later modern, 255-258, 349, 355, 

439-440, 483, 519, 637-644 
Napoleon's continental system, 

183-185 
Russian, 405 
Commercial advantages, struggle 

for, Chs. IV, XX, XXIV 
Committee of Public Safety, French, 

161-163 
Commons, British House of, 35, 
44^5, 426, 428-429, 451-453, 
461-463 
Commonwealth of Australia, 486- 

488 
Commonwealth, English, 39-40 
Compensation, industrial, 661-662 
Compulsory arbitration, 488-489 
Conciliation, industrial, 655 
Confederation of the Rhine, 187, 

201 
Confucius, 510 
Congo Free State, 530 
Congress of Berlin, 538-539 
Congresses, European, after 1815, 

214 
Conscription, military, 573 
in America, 595 
in Great Britain, 1916, 455 
in Prussia, 1807, 203 



INDEX 



695 



Conservatives, British, 430, 447, 

448-449 
Constantinople, capture of, 533 
Constituent assembly, French, 155- 

157 
Constitution; 

British, 35, 42-43, 428-429, 452- 
453, 460-461 

Chinese, 514 

French, 155-157, 328-330 

German, 367-368 

Japanese, 519 

written European, 617-618 
Consul, Napoleon as French, 175 
Continental congresses, 108-109 
Continental system of Napoleon, 

183-185 
Continuation schools, 672 n. 
Contracts, labor, 655-657 
Convention, French, 160-165 
Copernicus, 24, 675 
Cordelier club, 160 
Corn, Indian, 638-639 
Corn laws, British, 424, 438 

repeal of, 43S-440 
Corporations, 646, 650-651, 652 

See also Factories, Gilds, and 
Industry 
Cort, 234 

Corvee, 143-144, 149 
Cotter, 226, 230 
Cotton gin, invention of, 233 
Cotton ; 

exports and imports of, 242 

manufactures of, 231-233, 458 
Councilmen ; 

British municipal, 430, 627 

French municipal, 629 

German municipal, 628 
Council of soldiers' and workmen's 

delegates, 414, 415 
Councils, British county, 463-464 
Counter Reformation, the, 18 
Counties, government of British, 4, 

463 
Courts, European, 119-120, 624 
Crete, 539 n. 
Crime ; 

extent of, in eighteenth century, 
117-118 

punishment of, 118-121, 434-435, 
624 



Crimean war, 297, 536-537 
Cripples, care of war, 680 
Crispi, 346-347 
Croatia-Slavonia, 386 
Crompton, 232 
Cromwell, Oliver, 38-40, 465 
Crown prince, Prussian, failures of, 

597, 601 
Customs Union, Prussian, 303 
Custozza, battle of, 284 
Czecho-Slovaks, 277, 387, 602 

Daimios, Japanese, 517 
Danton, 160-163 
Dardanelles campaign, 587 
Darwin, Charles, 675 
Deak, Francis, 384-385 
Declaration of Independence, Amer- 
ican, 109 
Declaration of London, 1852, 308 
Declaration of Rights, French, 

1789, 155 
Defoe, Daniel, 52 

quoted, 225 
Delcasse, Theophile, 337, 349, 449, 

531, 558-560, 563 
Delegations, Austro-Hungarian, 

385-386 
Democracy, attempt of French to 

secure, 1789-1794, 153-154, 

155, 164 
Democracy, limited, 328-330, 345- 

346, 365-371, 385-386, 401- 

402, 408-411, 425-431, 445- 

447, 452-453, 460-464, Ch. 

XXIII, 678-679, 680, 681, 682 
See also Absolutism and Political 

parties 
Denmark, 664 
Departments, French, creation of, 

155 
Descartes, Rene, 24 
Despots, the enlightened, 129-134 
Diderot, 128 

Directory, the French, 166, 173, 175 
Disability, payment of workers for, 

661, 662 
Disraeli, Benjamin, 445 
Dissenters, laws against, 41 n., 433 
Divine right, Stuart theory of, 31, 

34, 41-42, 44 
Dominion of Canada. See Canada 



696 



INDEX 



Dominions, British imperial, 482 
Dreyfus affair, the, 333-334 
Dual alliance, the, 333, 557-558 
Dual monarchy, the ; 

See also Austria-Hungary 

formation of, 384-385 

races of, 384 
Dumas, Russian, 410-411, 412 
Dupleix, General, in India, 104 
Dutch; 

colonial empire, 353 

commercial success of, 86-88, 90- 
91 

kingdom of, 352-354 

East India Company, English, 103- 

104, 498-500 
East Prussia, campaigns in, 585 
Eastern Question, 534-539, 541-545 
Economic conditions. See Agricul- 
ture, Commerce, Industry, etc. 
Economic . reforms, 228-237, 240- 
244, 435-440, 249-259, 646-664 
Education, public, 23-24, 207-208, 
670-674 
Asiatic, 513, 518 
in France, 165, 207-208, 331, 335, 

673-674 
in Germany, 208, 381, 642-643, 

672-673 
in Great Britain, 446, 671-672 
in Italy, 351 
in Russia, 72, 401 
scientific, 677 
technical, 674 
Edward VII, 449, 559-560 
Egypt ; 

before 1883, 174-175, 491-492 
British in, 492-495 
Great Britain and France in, 331 
. Napoleon's campaign in, 174—175 
Egyptian Sudan, conquest of, 492- 

493 
Elba, Napoleon at, 191 
Electricity, 676, 677 
Eliot, Sir John, 35 
Elizabeth, Ireland under, 465 
Emancipation of serfs, Russian, 400 
Embargoes, American, 184 

Central and Western European, 
201, 203, 205, 249, 251 
Emigration from Ireland, 468 



Emigrees, French, 157-158 
Empire ; 

British, 481-483 
French, 176-178, 179, 186-187 
German, 319, 364-383 
Holy Roman, 197, 201 
Japanese, 521-522 
Russian, 396-398 
Employees. See Labor 
Employers. See Capital 
Ems dispatch, 318 
Enclosure system, 229-230 
Encyclopedists, the, 128 
England ; 

See also Great Britain and Table 

of Contents 
American colonies of, 91-97 
central government of, in 1600, 

3-4 
church in, 20-21 
colonial contest of, with Dutch, 

86-88, 90-91 , 96 
colonial contest of, with French, 

97-105 
colonial policy of, 96-97 
contest of, with America, 105-111 
early Stuart kings and, 31-39 
growth of constitutional govern- 
ment in. See Cabinet and 
Parliamentary government 
insular position, 458-459 
later Stuart kings and, 40-42, 45- 

46 
living conditions in, 54-57, 122- 

125, 222-226 
local government of, in 1600, 4 
Napoleon, wars of, with, 174-175, 

180-192, 421-423 
revolutions in, 42-45 
social conditions in eighteenth 

century, 49-58, 117-125 
struggle for constitutional gov- 
ernment in, 31-48 
wars of. See Wars 
Entente Cordiale, 337, 449, 493, 559, 

560 
Epidemics in eighteenth century, 

124 
Ericsson, John, 236 
Eugenie, Empress, 313 
Europe, countries of, in 1600, 1-2 
See also Table of Contents 



INDEX 



697 



Evolution, 676 
Exiles, Siberian, 402 
Expansion, German, 375-376, 378- 
379 

See also Empire 
Exports; 

British, 640 

German, 378-379, 642 

Russian, 405 

F's, the three, in Ireland, 468-469 
Factory ; 

conditions of work in, 435-436 

legislation, 436-437 

system, 239-241, 645-646, 649- 
650 
Fairs, early modern, 15 
Famines; 

Irish, 468 

Indian, 501 
Fashoda affair, 493, 533, 559 
Federation ; 

British imperial, 483 

use of, in British colonies, 482, 
484, 486, 491 
Fenian movement, 471 n. 
Ferdinand, Czar, 543 ; Prince, 574 
Ferry, Jules, 331-332, 337 
Festivals of Liberty and Supreme 

Being, 163 
Feudalism ; 

dues of, 130 

early modern, 5-7, 129-131, 140- 
147, 153-154, 197-198, 199-201, 
248-251, 286 

survivals of, 382-383, 402-403, 
516-517, 518 
Finance ; 

municipal, European, 628-630 

war, 423-456, 604-605, 680-681 

See also Taxes, War finance 
Finland, 396, 407, 414, 622 
Fisheries, early modern, importance 

of, 86-89 
Foch, General, 584, 601-602 
Food, 226, 229, 262, 638-640 

administration, American, 596 

problem, war, 606, 638-640 

See also Great Britain 

regulation, British, 456 

in 1600, 8 

in 1700, 54 



Foreign investments, French, 343 

Forests, public, 631-632 

Forts, French defensive, 556 

Fouche, 212 

Fourth of August, night of, 153-154 

France; 

See also Table of Contents 
agriculture in, 248-250, 251-252, 

341-342 
army of, 573 
care of poor in, 665-666 
cities in, 625-626, 629, 630, 633 
child labor laws in, 262, 669 
Church and State in, 19-20, 157, 

178-179, 334-336 
commerce of, 255-256 
condition of peasants in, 248, 249— 

250 
constitution of, 328 
expansion of, 97-99, 336-337, 

531-533 
first empire of ,176-178, 179, 186- 

187 
government of, before 1789, 142 
government of, under first con- 
stitution, 155-157 

to-day, 329-330, 337-338 
in Great War, 578, 580-584 
See Ch. XXII 
industrial courts in, 655 
industrial insurance in, 662, 663 
industry in, 66-67, 253-255 
July revolution in, 268-270 
labor unions of, 654 
lack of uniformity in, in 1789, 

141-142 
land and people of, 146-147, 

154, 248-250, 251-252, 340-341 
landholding in, 251-252 
living conditions in, 142-144, 

146-147, 260-262, 341-342, 

344-345, 663, 665-667 
national development of, 64-66, 

140-142, 176-180, 330-338 
occupations in, 341-343 
old regime in, 140-147 
Orleanist monarchy of, 270-271 
present conditions in, 337-345 
railways in, 255, 630 
relations of, with Germany, 199- 

202, 316-320, 550, 556-557, 

562-564, 569 



698 



INDEX 



France — Continued 

restoration in, 211, 212, 267 
Revolution in, 139-171 
revolution of 1848 in, 271-274 
revolutionary wars of, 157-158, 

160, 165-166 
second empire of, 311-320 
status of woman in, 668 
Third Republic of, 325-338 
war with Austria, 158, 165-166 

Francis Joseph II, 278, 384-385 

Franco-Prussian war, 318-320 

Frankfort, parliament, German, 
280-281 

Frankfort, treaty of, 320, 376, 556 

Frederick the Great, 78-81 

Frederick III, Kaiser, 374 

Frederick William IV of Prussia, 
276, 279-280, 281 

Free cities, German, 197, 365 n. 

Freeholders, English, 226, 230 

Free trade, British, 439-440, 550 

French Revolution, the, 139-171 

Friedland, battle of, 182 

Fry, Elizabeth, 122 

Fulton, Robert, 236 

Fur trade, American, 89 

Galicia, campaigns in, 583, 585 

Galileo, 24 

Gambetta, Leon, 319, 320 n., 331 

Garibaldi, 300 

Gas, use of, 600, 604 

General staff, Prussian, 368 

Geographical conditions ; 

See List of Maps ; Resources, 
natural, etc. 

insular, of England, 243-244, 459, 
560 
George III, 420-421 

American policy of, 107—109 

character of, 107 
George IV, 426 
George V, 452 

German Confederation, 204, 302 
Germany ; 

See also Table of Contents 

agriculture in, 250-251, 252-253 

America and, 591-596, 598, 601- 
606 

attempted union of, 1848, 280- 
281 



Germany — Continued 
care of poor in, 666 
characteristics of, 381-383 
child labor laws in, 670 
Church and State in, in 1600, 19- 

20 
cities in, 197, 625-626, 628, 630, 

633 
colonies of, in Africa, 530 
commerce of, 257-258, 378-379, 

637, 641-643 
condition of peasants in, 248—249, 

250-251 
disunity of, before 1801, 197-198 
education in, 378, 381, 641-642, 

672-673 
Empire, formation of, 320, 367 n. 
government, 365—371 
history of, early. See Prussia, 

Austria, Holy Roman Empire ; 

recent, 302-311, 316-320, 

371, 376, 380, Chs. XXI, 

XXII 
industrial insurance in, 378, 662, 

663, 664 
industry in, 258-259, 378 
influences of, in Near East, 541, 

542, 564-565, 568-569 
international policy of, 550-556, 

559, 560-562, 565, 567-569 
land and people of, 364-365 
living conditions in, 381-383 
national problem of, 1848, 275 
policy of, 377-379 
railways in, 631 
relations of, to France, 199-202, 

316-320, 550, 556-557, 562-564 
responsibility of, for Great' War, 

568, 573, 575-578 
restoration in, 212-214 
Socialism in, 633-634, 654-655 
status of women in, 383, 668 
underhanded commercial meth- 
ods of, 642-643 
Gibraltar, 70 n. 
Gilds, 12-13, 260, 654 n. 
Girondists, the, 158 
Gladstone, William E., 440, 445- 

447, 448, 537 
Irish home rule policy of, 447, 

448-449, 469-470 
reform acts of, 445-450, 469 



INDEX 



699 



Glasgow, 626, 627 
Goethe, 198 

Gordon, Chinese, 492, 511 n. 
Government ; 

See Absolutism, Democracy, Par- 
liament, Parliamentary govern- 
ment, Suffrage, etc. 
ownership, 630, 633 
popular, 617, 623 
regulation of industry, 13, 650- 

651 
Great Britain ; 

See also England and Table of 

Contents 
agriculture in, 222-223, 225-226, 

228-231, 423-424, 438, 457 
change in colonial policy after 

1763, 105-108 
child labor laws in, 435-437, 669 
cities in, 625-628, 629, 632-633 

See also London 
colonial policy of, in eighteenth 

century, 96-97 ; recent, 481- 

483 
commerce of, 240-244, 422-423, 

439-440, 483, 510-511, 637, 

640-641 
compensation for accidents in, 

662 
education, public, in, 446, 671-672 
empire of. See British Empire 
government of, at present, 460- 

464 

See also Cabinet government 
in Great War, 453-456, 576-578, 

598-602 
industrial boards in, 655-656 
industrv in, 223-225, 226-228, 

231-235, 240-243, 438-439, 

457-459 
labor exchanges act in, 664 
labor unions, 653 
land problem of, 222-223, 229- 

230, 423, 466-467, 468-469, 

667 n. 
living conditions in, 229, 239-241 , 

423-425, 434, 435-439,457-460, 

656, 662-665 
naval policy of, 459-460 
old age pension law of, 663 
poor laws of, 122-124, 664-665 
railways in, 630 



Great Britain — Continued 

sickness insurance law of, 662-663 
status of woman in, 668 
territorial gains of, 1815, 211 
unemployment law of, 664 

Great Electorof Brandenburg, 77-78 

Great Russia, 397 

Great War ; 

America and, 591-596 
beginnings of, 573-579 
in Belgium, 579-582 
causes of. See Germany, inter- 
national policy of, also Eastern 
Question, and Morocco 
in France, 582-585, 597-602 
f rightfulness, German, 593, 595 

See also Atrocities 
Great Britain and, 453-456, 576- 

578, 598-602 
Italy and, 352, 589-591 
outside of France, 585-591 
Russia during, 412—415 
submarine warfare in, 592-595 

Greece, 216-217, 534, 539, 544-545 

Grevy, President of France, 331 

Grey, Lord, 427-428 ; Earl, 576-577 

Guizot, 271 

Habeas Corpus act, 41, 44 

Hague conferences, 679 

Hampden, John, 36-37 

Hampton Court Conference, the, 33 

Hapsburgs, Austrian, 384 

Hargreaves, 232 

Hay, John, 513 

Helgoland, 376 

Herzegovina. See Bosnia 

High prices in 1600, 12 

High schools, 671, 673-674 

Highways ; 

eighteenth century, 53, 236 
French, 255 

Hindenburg, 585 

Hindenburg line, 597, 601 

Hinduism, 495 

Hohenzollerns, military methods of 
early, 77 ; later, see Frederick 
and William II 

Holland ; 

and Belgium, 353, 354-355 
and France, 67, 166, 185, 352 
in recent years, 353-354 



700 



INDEX 



Holstein in German politics, SOT- 
SOS 
Holy Alliance, 212-215 
Holy Roman Empire, 1, 197, 

201 
Holy wars, German preaching of, 

555 
Home Rule bills, Irish, 447-448, 

448-449, 453-455, 469-471 
Hong Kong, 510 
Hoover, Herbert, 596 
Household industry, 223-224 
House of Lords, reform of, 452-453, 

organization of, 461 
Housing conditions in Europe, 261, 

625-626 
Howard, John, 122 
Huguenots ; 

dispersion of, 78 
emigration of, from France, 67 
weavers in England, 226 
Hundred Years' War, Second, 68- 
70, 99-105, 108-111 
See also Napoleonic Wars 
Hungary ; 

republic of, 279 

revolution in, 1848, 276, 278- 
279 
Hun speech, kaiser's, 513 n. 

Imports, British, 242-243, 640 
Improvements, public, made by 

Napoleon, 179-180 
Income tax, British, 451 
Indemnity, heavy German, upon 

France, 337, 342 
Independents, 32 
India ; 

before 1750, 103-104 

British, 495-497 

European struggle for, 103-104, 
105 

history of, 103-104, 497-500 
Indian corn, 349, 639 
Individual liberty ; 

British, 43-44, 459 

influence of Revolution of 1688 
on, 43-44 

lack of, in Germany, 381-382 

on the Continent, 259 
Indulgence, declaration of, 42 
Industrial courts, 655 



Industrial Revolution ; 

in central and eastern Europe, 

258-259, 388, 403-405, 408 
in England, 222-247> 231-235, 

241-244 
in France, 253-255 
in Russia, 403-405, 408 
Industry; 

Austrian, 388 

early modern, 10-12, 13, 14, 48, 
66-67, 225, 226-228, 231-235, 
240-243 
French, 66, 253-255, 342 
German, 364, 378 
household, 223-225 
Italian, 349 
Japanese, 519 
labor problem of, 652-657 
later modern, 253-255, 258-259, 
342, 349, 355, 388, 400, 404- 
405, 438-439, 457-459, 519, 
644-651 
Russian, 404 
Inheritance tax, British, 451 
Initiative, Swiss, 623 
Insurance, social, 660-664 
Insurrections, Polish, 398-399 

See also Revolutions 
Intemperance, extent of, after 1700, 

55-56 
Intendants, French, 142 
Interpellation, 330 
Intervention by Austria, after 1815, 

214-215 
Inventions ; 

early modern, 232-234, 236-237 
recent, 676-678 
Ireland, 464 

conquest of, 39, 465 
famines in, 468 

home rule problem of, 469-471 
land laws of, 446, 468-469 
living conditions in, 466-469 
troubles of, with England, 466- 
471 
Irish Home Rule bill. See Home 

Rule bills, Irish 
Irish land acts, 446, 468-469 
Irish nationalists, 447, 448, 469-471 
Irish question, the, 464 
Iron, 233-234, 242-243, 457, 509 
Iron and steel, 458, 646, 647-649 



INDEX 



701 



Italia Irredenta, 351 
Italy ; 

colonies of, in Africa, 530-531 

government of, 345-346 

in Great War, 589-591 

Napoleon's campaigns in, 174, 
176 

national beginnings of, 206 

problems of, 346-348, 350-352 

railways in, 630 

revolutions in, 282-285 

taxation in, 349-350 

in Triple Alliance, 350, 553 

unification of, 295-302 
Ito, Count, 519, 521 
Ivans, the Russian, 71 

Jacobins, 160-161 

Jacquard, 254 

James I, 31-32, 33-34 

James II, 41^2 

Jameson Raid, 377, 490, 560 

Japan; 

demands of, on China, 515 

in Great War, 590-591 

history of, 516-521 

land and people of, 515-516 

as world power, 519, 521-522 
Jena, battle of, 182 
Jerusalem, 591 
Jesuit schools, 335, 373, 674 
Jesuits, suppression of, in eighteenth 

century, 125—126 
Jews, Russian, 407 
Joffre, General, 583-584 
Johnson, Doctor Samuel, 52 n. 
Joseph II of Austria, 131, 134 
Jugo-Slavs, 541 
July revolution, French, 268 
Junkers, the, 365, 371 
Jury system, 624 
Justice, administration of, 624 

Kay, 232 
Kerensky, 414 

Kiao-chau, 376, 512, 515, 590 
Kiel canal, 560, 561 
Kimberley diamond fields, 490 
King William's war, 99 
King's Friends, the, 421 
Kitchener of Khartoum, 449, 492- 
493 



Korea, 511, 520-521 
Kruger, Paul, 377, 490, 560 
Kulturkampf, 372-373 

La Vendee, Insurrection in, 161 
Labor ; 

and capital, 652-657 

early conditions of, 237-241, 435- 

437 
in England, 424-425 
exchanges act, 664 
later conditions of, 260-261, 262- 

264, 271, 408 
party, British, 448 
unions, British, 446, 653 
unions, French, 654 
unions, German, 654-655 
See also Gilds ; Unions, labor; 
Insurance, social, etc. 
Lafayette, 154, 269 
Land tenure, 6—7 

in France, 146-147, 154, 248- 

250, 251-252 - 
in Germany, 203, 250-251 
in Great Britain, 222-223, 229- 

230, 423, 466-467, 468-469 
at present, 666-667 
in Russia, 400, 402-403, 407 n., 
415, 667 
Large scale production, 649-651 
Lassalle, 634 
Laud, Archbishop, 35-36 
League of the Three Emperors, 551 
Lecky, Edward, quoted, 56 
Legion of Honor, French, 179 
Legislation, social, 262-263, 435- 

437, 660-664 
Legislative Assembly, 158 
Legislatures, early American, 93, 95 
Leipzig, 189 

Leo XIII, Pope, 335, 347-348 
Leopold, Spanish candidacy of, 317 
Liao-tung peninsula, 512, 520, 521 
Liberal movements after 1815, 213- 

214, 275-276 
Liberal Unionists, 447, 448-449 
Liberals, British, 430, 447, 448, 450- 

453 
Liberty; 

civil, 3, 4, 43-44, 155, 259-260, 

459, 623-624 
lack of, in Germany, 381-383 



702 



INDEX 



Liberty — Continued 

religious. See Religious liberty 
Liberty, equality, fraternity, 153- 

155, 177, 205 
Liberty loans, 605 
Liege, siege of, 581 
Literature in Augustan period, 52 - 

53 
Lithuania, 397 
Little Russia, 398, 407 
Living, standards of ; 

before 1789, 8, 54-57, 122-125, 

142-144, 146-147, 222-226 
early nineteenth century, 229, 

239-241, 260-262 
recent European, 341-342, 344- 

345, 349-350, 355, 381-383, 

388-390, 402-405, 411 n., 423- 

425, 434, 435-439, 457-460, 

466-469, 655-657, 661-670, 679 
Livingstone, David, 527 
Living wage, 656-657 
Lloyd George, David, 451, 455 
Lloyd's, 51 n. 
Loans, French, 557, 558 
Local government, British, 463-464, 

620 
See also Cities, British 
Lombardy, addition of, to Sardinia, 

299 
London; 
in 1600, 9 
in 1700, 49-51 
Lords, British House of, 428, 452- 

453, 461 
Louis XIV, 64-70 
Louis XVI, 147-148, 152, 158, 159, 

161 
Louis XVIII, 267 
Louisiana, sale of, to United States, 

178 
Lucerne, the lion of, 159 
Lucknow, relief of, 499 
Luneville, peace of (1801), 176, 

199-201 
Lusitania, the, 592, 594 
Luxemburg, violation of neutrality 

of, 579, 580 
Lyell, 676 
Lyons ; 

manufacturing in, 254, 342 n. 
revolution in, 162 



Macadam, 236 

Macaroni, a, 55 

Machinery, 232-234, 252, 254-255, 

259, 645-646, 648, 650 
MacMahon, Marshal, 327, 330-331 
Madagascar, French in, 337 
Magistrat, 628 
Magyars and subject races, 384, 

386 
Mahratta, confederacy of, 103-104, 

497-498 
Manchuria, 508, 512, 515 
Manchus, 510-514 
Manhood suffrage, 620-622 
Manners and pastimes about 1700, 

54-55 
Manufacturing ; 

See also Industry 

English, 225, 227, 231-235, 241- 
243, 458 

French, 66, 253-255, 342 

German, 258-259, 364, 378 
March Laws, Hungarian, 278 
Marchand, Captain, 493 
Maria Theresa, 78, 131, 134 
Marie Antoinette, 147-148 
Markets, early modern, 15 
Marlborough, Duke of, 69 
Marne, battles of, 583-584, 600, 

601, 602 
Married women, status of, 668 
Marseillaise, the, 159 
Marx, Karl, 634 
Massachusetts, 94, 108 
Match, friction, 677 
Maximum, French law of, 162 
May laws, German, 373 
Mayors, European, 628-629 
Mazarin, Cardinal, 64 
Mazzini, Joseph, 282-283 
McAdoo, William G., 596 
Meat, British imports of, 457 
Mehemet AH, 491 
Mercantilism, 16 
Methodism, 58 
Metternich, 209, 212-215, 267, 

276-277 
Metz, 319 

Mikado, Japanese, 516, 517-518 
Milan decrees, 184 
Militarism, German, 382, 568, 
573, 678 



INDEX 



703 



Milton, John, 40 

Milyoukov, Paul, 409 

Minerals in Great Britain, 457-458 
See also Resources, natural 

Miners, wages of, 656 

Mines, legislation regarding workers 
in, 262, 437 

Minimum wage, 656-657 

Ministerial government. See Par- 
liamentary government 

Ministry, British, 462 n. 

Mirabeau, Count de, 150, 152 

Mirs, Russian, 403 n. 

Missionaries, African, 528 

Mississippi basin, European strug- 
gle for, 101-102, 105 

Modena, 299 

Moguls in India, 497 

Mohammedanism, 495 

Moltke, von, 319 

Monarchists, French, under Third 
Republic, 326-328, 352 

Mongolia, 508 

Mongols, 510 

Monopolies, 650 

Monroe Doctrine, Holy Alliance 
and, 215-216 

Montenegro, 538 

Montesquieu, 126-127 

Morocco, European contest over, 
532-533, 562-564 

Moscow ; 

Napoleon at, 188-189 
princes of, 70 

"Mountain," the, in French as- 
sembly, 158-164 

Mukden, battle of, 520 

Municipal corporation act, British, 
420, 626-627 

Municipal government, 626-630 

Municipal ownership, 628, 632-633 

Municipal trading, 628, 629 

Munitions, British war problem of, 
456, 606 

Mutsuhito, Mikado, 517-518 

Nantes; 

revocation of edict of, 66-67 

revolution in, 162 
Naples ; 

annexation of, to Italy, 300-301 

revolutions in, 282, 284 



Napoleon ; 

Austrian campaigns of, 180-182, 

186-187 
boyhood of, 172 
in Egypt, 174-175 
as emperor, 176 
final overthrow of, 189-192 
as first consul, 175-176 
first Italian campaign of, 173-174 
marriages of, 173, 187 
and papacy, 178-179 
reorganization of Europe by, 

199-204, 205-208 
reorganization of government by, 

176-178, 187, 200-202 
Russian campaign of, 187-189 
wars of, with England, 174-175, 
180-192, 421-423 
Napoleon III, Cavour and, 298 
aid of, to Italy, 298-299 
Second Empire of, 311-320 
Napoleon, Louis 
capture of, 319 
early history of, 274 
as emperor, 312-318 
as president, 274, 312 
National assembly, French, 151— 

152, 153-157^329 
National insurance act, British, 

664 
National workshops, French, 273 
Nationality, 140-141, 152, 205- 
206, 275, 286, 288, 381, 385, 
387 
definition of, 205-206 
development of, in Napoleon's 

time, 206 
problem of, after 1918, 681-682 
problem before 1914, 678 

See also Alliances 
problem in 1848, 275 
Navigation policy of England, 40, 

91, 97 n., 422-423 
Navy; 

British, 175, 180, 459-460, 560 
German, 377, 560 
Near East. See Eastern Question, 

Turkey, and Balkans 
Necker, 149, 151, 153 
Nelson, Admiral, 175, 180 
Netherlands, Dutch. See Holland 
New England colonies, 94-95 



704 



INDEX 



New Netherland, Dutch, 96 
New South Wales, 485 
New Zealand, 488-489 
Newcomen, 233 
Newfoundland fisheries, 88-89 
Newspapers, 51, 464 
Newton, Sir Isaac, 25 
Ney, Marshal, 189, 212 
Nicholas I, 398, 536 
Nicholas II, 408, 412 
Nicholas, Grand Duke, 585, 591 
Nihilism in Russia, 401 
Nile, battle of the, 175 
Nobles, position and privileges of, 
in 1600, 5-6 
before 1789, 145-146 
North, Lord, 421 
North Sea fisheries, 86-88 
Northcliffe, Lord, 455 
Norway, 211 
Novara, battle of, 285 

O'Connell, Daniel, 467 
October reforms, Russian, 410 
Octroi, 144, 630 
Old age pensions, 663 
Old order, twentieth century, 678- 
679 

See also Child labor ; Democ- 
racy ; Living, standards of ; 
Militarism ; Woman, etc. 
Old regime, 2-21 

in France, 140-147 
Olmutz, humiliation of, 281-282 
Open field system ; 

in Middle Ages, 6 

in eighteenth century, 222- 
223 
Opium war, 510 
Orange Free State, 489-490 
Orders in Council, British, 184 
Orleanists, the, 269-271, 325, 327 
Ottoman empire. See Turkey 
Overman Act, 596 
Owen, Robert, 436, 633 n. 

Palatinate, War of, 68 
Palmerston, Lord, 432 
Pan-Germanism, 379, 553, 556, 

566, 573, 575 
Pan-Slavism, 277-278, 566-567, 

575 



Papacy, the, 52, 176, 178-179, 
301, 335, 336, 347-348 

See also Church, Roman Catholic 
Papal states, 299, 301 
Paris ; 

commune of, 326 

Count of, 271, 325, 327 

drive on, 1914, 582-584 

peace of, 1763, 104-105 

peace of, 1783, 109-111 

revolution, events in, 150-153, 
154, 160, 162-165' 

siege of, 319-320 

treaty of, 297-298, 537 
Parish, government of, British, 4, 

464 
Parliament ; 

Austrian, 386 

Chinese, 514 

French, 328-329 

German, 369-370 

Hungarian, 386 

Japanese, 519 

Prussian, 366-367 
Parliament, British ; 

at present, 461-463 

growth of, 4, 35, 44-45, 428-429, 
445, 446-447, 452-453 

later reform of, 445, 446-447, 
452-453 

Long, 37-39 

need of reform of, 425, 426 

reform of, 426-429 

Rump, 39 

and Tudor monarchy, 4 
Parliament, Act of ; 

1911, 452-453 

1918, 453 
Parliamentary government, 618-620 

British, 46-48, 420, 421, 462-463 

British colonial, 484 

in France, 329-330, 337-338 

in Italy, 345-347 
Parliaments, European, 618 

See also Parliament 
Parma, 299 

Parnell, Charles Stewart, 469 
Pasteur, 676 
Paternalism, governmental, 66, 

650-651 
Peace, the Great War and, 576-577, 
681-682 



INDEX 



705 



Peace movement, 679 
Peasants ; 

condition of, before 1789, 143- 
144, 146-147, 248-249 

after 1789, 249-251 
Peel, Sir Robert, 432 n., 434, 439 
Peers, British, 461 
Peninsular wars, 185 
People, life of ; 

in 1600, 7-9 

on continent, early nineteenth 
century, 259-264 

in England before 1760, 223-226 

See also Living, standards of 
Perry, Admiral, 517 
Persia, partition of, 502 
Persian Gulf, international struggle 

for, 542 
Peter the Great, 71-73 
Peterloo massacre, 424 
Petition of Right, 35 
Petrograd, founding of, 73 
Philanthropy, eighteenth century, 

124 
Philippe, Louis, king, 269-271 
Philosophers, reform, 126—129 
Photographs, 677 
Physiocrats, the, 128-129 
Piave river, fighting on, 590 
Picardy, battle of, 600 
Picquart, 333-334 
Pilgrims, the, 34 

Pitt, William, the younger, 421-423 
Pius IX, Pope, 276, 283, 347 
Pius X, Pope, 347 
Plassey, battle of, 104 
Poland, 396, 398-400 

former greatness of, 75 

partitions of, 75-77 
Policemen, early modern, 10, 118 
Political parties ; 

British, 41, 427, 430, 445, 447- 
448, 450 

French, 337-338 

German, 370-371, 634 

Italian, 346-347 

Russian, 409, 414-415, 634 
Political systems and individual 

liberty, 620, 624 
Poor, care of the, 122-124, 664- 

666 
Pope. See Papacy 
2 z 



Population, shift of English, 
eighteenth century, 237-239 

Portugal ; 

colonies of, in Africa, 529-530 
commercial development of, 86 
England and, 56, 185-186 

Postal systems, early English, 51-52 

Potatoes, 252, 341, 467, 468, 
638-639 

Potsdam conference, 574, 682 

Poverty. See Poor, care of 

Power loom, first, 232-233 

Prefects, French, 177 

Presbyterians, 32 

Press, freedom of the, 433-434 

Pride's purge, 38 

Primary schools, 351, 671, 672, 673 

Printing press, 677 

Prisons, eighteenth century, 121- 
122 

Privileges of nobles and clergy 
before 1789, 5, 19, 144-146, 
154 

Privy council, 462 n. 

Protectorate, the, 39-40 

Prussia ; 

beginnings of, 77-81 
government of, 366-367 
relation of to Germany, 365-366 
revolution in, 1848, 279-280 
territorial gains of, 211, 310 
war of, with France, 1792, 158, 
165-166, 182, 189-192 

Prussianism, 366, 368, 382, 383, 
567-569, 575, 582 

"Puffing Billy," the, 237 

Puritanism, decline of, 40 
reaction against, 40, 57 

Puritans, the, 32-34 

American colonies of, 94-95 
Commonwealth of, 39-40 

Pyramids, battle of the, 174 

Quakers, 57 

Quebec, capture of, 102-103 

Quesnay, 128 

Quirinal and Vatican, 347-348 

Races ; 

in 1848, 275 

in Austria-Hungary, 384, 387-388 
" Race for the sea," 481 n. 



706 



INDEX 



Radetzsky, 284 

Railways, government owned, 404, 

630-631 
Reconstruction, war, 681-682 
Red Sunday, 408-409 
Referendum ; 

use of, in Australia, 487 

Swiss, 623 
Reform act of ; 

1832, events leading to, 426-428 
provisions of, 428-429 

1867, 445 

1884, 446-447 
Reforms, 72-73, 80-81, 120-122, 
129-131 

British, in Egypt, 493-495 

British, in India, 500-501 

legal in Russia, 401 

social legislation in France, 343 
Reformation, the, 18 
Regulation of business by govern- 
ment, 650-651 
Reichstag, the, 380-381, 369-370 
Religious conditions ; 

in eighteenth century, 56-58 

in seventeenth century, 17-23 
Religious liberty, 22-23, 432-433 

toleration, 21-22 

See also Church 
Reorganization, European, under 

Napoleon, 199-202 
Repressive acts, the, 108 
Republic ; 

First French, 160-176 

Second French, 274 

Third French, 325-338 
Republics, European, 622 
Resources ; 

British, 456-458 

natural and modern industrial, 
646-650 
Responsible government, 329-330, 
337-338, 345-347, 618-620 

in British colonies, 484 

See also Parliamentary govern- 
ment 
Restoration, the English (1660), 40 
Restoration, the, in Europe, 1815, 

211-215 
Revolutions ; 

of 1688, 42-45 

after 1815, 214-215 



Revolutions — Continued 

of 1848, in Central Europe, 274- 

280, 283-288. 
of 1848, in France, 271-273 
economic, on the Continent, Ch, 

X 
economic, in England, Ch. IX 
Great, in France, Ch. VI 
political, on Continent, 1830- 
1849, Ch. XI 
Revolutionary tribunals, French, 

162 
Revolutionary war, 109 
Richelieu, Cardinal, 64 
Riga, 585 

Roads. See Highways 
Robespierre, 160, 163-164 
Romanoffs, first, 73 n. 

See also Russia 
Rome, 285, 301 
Rousseau, 128 
Rumania, 534, 540, 587 
Russell, Sir John, 426, 427 
Russia ; 

army of, 573-574 

districts of, 396-398 

economic conditions in, 400, 402, 

405 
Europeanization of, 72-73 
expansion of, 73-74 
in Great War, 576-578 
history of, before 1815, 70-77, 

187-189 
land problem of, 400, 402-403, 

407 n., 415, 667 
living conditions in, 402-405, 

411 n. 
and Napoleon, 182, 184, 187- 

189 
Near Eastern policy of, 412, 

566, 567 
opposition of Teutonic powers to, 

551-552, 562, 564-569 
railways in, 631 
recent history of, 398-402, 406- 

415 
revolutions in, 408-410, 412- 

415 
rise of, 70-77 
socialism in, 414-415, 634 
in southeastern Asia, 501 
territorial gains of , 1815, 209-211 



INDEX 



707 



Russian Empire, 396-398 

See also Russia 
Russification, policy of, 399-400, 

406-407 
Russo-Japanese war, 411, 520 

Sabotage, 654 

St, Helena, Napoleon at, 192 

Saloniki force, 589 

Salt tax, French, 142-143 

Samurai, 517, 518 

Sanitation in eighteenth century, 

124-125 
San Stefano, treaty of, 538 
Saratoga, battle of, 109 
Sardinia, kingdom of ; 

constitutional government in, 
295 

operation of, for united Italy, 
295-299 

revolution of 1848 in, 284-285 

work of, in uniting Italy, 299-302 
Saverne affair, 340 
Saxony, kingdom of, 211 
Schiller, 198-199 
Schleswig-Holstein question, 307- 

308 
Schools ; 

See also Education 

in 1600, 23-24 ; 

modern, 671-674 
Schwarzenburg, 282 
Science ; 

early modern, 24-25 

later modern, 675-677 
Scotch Irish, 464, 470 
Scotland ; 

See also Great Britain 

Charles I and, 37, 38 

public schools in, 670 

union of, with England, 46 
Sebastopol, 536 
Sedan, 319 
Senate ; 

French, 328 

Italian, 345 
Separatists, 32, 34 
Sepoy revolt, 499 
September massacres, French, 160 
Serbia, 534, 538, 540-541, 544-545 

in Great War, 574-575, 576, 586- 
588 



Serbo-Croats, 541 
Serfs ; 

condition of, in 1600, 7 

emancipation of, in Russia, 402- 
403 
Serfdom, 7, 130, 201, 248, 250 

in 1600, 7 

abolition of, 201, 203, 205 

Russian, 399, 400, 402-403 
Seven Years' War, 79, 100, 102-105 
Sheep, new kinds of, 249 
Shimonoseki, treaty of, 512 
Ship money, levy of, 36-37 
Shipping, British, 459 

See also Carrying trade 
Shogun, Japanese, 516, 518 
Shuttle, invention of, 232 
Siberia, 74, 398 
Sicily, 283 

' ' Sick Man ' ' of Europe. See Turkey 
Sickness insurance, 662—663 
Sieyes, Abbe, 150 
Sinn Feiners, 471 
Six acts, English, 425 
"Six Points" of Chartists, 430 
Slave trade, 90 
Smith, Adam, 129 
Smuggling, 48, 81 

Social classes, 5-7, 123, 144-147, 

225-226, 365, 380, 402, 497, 681 

Social conditions, bad, due to 

factory system, 240-241 
Social Democratic party, German, 

371, 634 
Social insurance, 488-489 

extent of, 344, 374, 451, 660-664 

in Germany, 374 

need of, 660 
Socialism, growth- of, 633-634 
Socialists ; 

French republic of, 273 

German, 371, 373, 380, 634 

Russian, 414-415, 634 
Social reforms ; 

See also Living, standards of 

in Australasia, 488—489 

British, 432-437, 450^52 

early, 117-125, 130-131, 237- 
239, 249-253, 259-264, 432-437 

recent, 343-344, 660-674, 679-682 
Social welfare work. See Social 
insurance ; Poor, etc. 



708 



INDEX 



Solferino, battle of, 299 

Somme, battles of, 596, 597-598, 

600, 601 
South Africa, British, 489-491 
South Sea bubble, 49 
Spain ; expansion of, 85, 86 

independence of American colo- 
nies of, 215 

restoration in, 212, 214 
Spanish Succession, War of, 69-70, 

99 
Special privileges of local districts, 

3, 141 
Spectator, the, 52-54 
Spencer, Herbert, 676 
Spheres of influence, European 

in China, 512 

in Africa, 529 
Spinning machines, improvement 

in, 233 
Squire, English, 5 
Stamp act (1765), 107-108 
Standards of living. See Living, 

standards of 
Stanley, Henry M., 528 
Star Chamber, court of, 35, 37 
State socialism in Germany, 374 
States-General, French, in 1789, 

150-151 
Steam, age of, 645, 648-649 
Steamboats, early, 236 
Steam-engine, invention of, 233- 

234 
Steel, 647-649 
Stein, Baron, 203 
Stephenson, George, 237 
Stolypin, 410-411 
Strafford, Earl of, 37, 465 
Street railways, 632-633 
Strikes, labor, 408, 654, 655 
Stuarts, the English, 31-46 
Subsidies, government, 642, 644 n. 
Sudan, Egyptian, 449 
Suez canal, 491-492, 494 
Suffrage ; 

Australasia, 487-488 

Austrian, 388 

British, 429, 445 n., 446, 453 

European and general, 620-622 

French, 155, 313, 621 

German, 369 

Prussian, 367 n. 



Sugar, 253, 639-640 

act of 1764, 107 

early modern commercial im- 
portance of, 89-90 

use of beet, 253, 640 
Sun Yat-sen, 514 
Surgery, early, 124-125 
Sussex affair, 593 
Sweden, 211 
Swift, Jonathan, 52 
Switzerland, popular government 

in, 622-623 
Syndicalism, 654 

Taj Mahal, 497 
Talleyrand, 200-201, 209-210 
Tanks, use of, 604 
Tariffs ; 

See also Tolls 

Austrian, 387 

British, 440, 450 

early modern, 16 

German, 372, 376, 380 

modern, 303-304, 372, 380, 400, 
404, 439, 450, 651 

Prussian, 80 

Russian, 404 
Taxes ; 

American, 605 

British, 423, 451, 457 

French, 142-144, 156 

municipal, 628, 629-630 
Teachers, 335, 672 
Telegraph, 677 
Telephone, 677 
Tenant farmers, English, 226, 230, 

Irish, 468-469 
Tennis court oath, 152 
Terror, reign of, 161-164 
Terrorists, Russian, 401 
Thiers, 325, 327 
Third estate, the, 150-152 
Third French republic, 325-338 
"Third section," the Russian, 402 
Thrift, French, 342 
Tilsit, peace of, 182 
Tobacco, commercial importance of 

American, 93-94 
Tolls system, 15-16, 257 
Tories, beginning of, 41 
Torture, use of, 119, 120-121 
Town meeting, New England, 94 



INDEX 



709 



Townshend Acts, the, 108 
Townshend, "Turnip," 228 
Trafalgar, battle of, 180 
Transportation, 235-237, 255, 404- 
405, 638, 643-644, 677 

in England, 53, 235-237 

in European cities, 626 

in France, 255 
Transvaal, 490 

Travel, after 1700, 53-54, 236 
Treitschke, 383 n. 
Trenches, war, 602-603 
Trentino, the, 351, 589 
Trials ; 

eighteenth century, 119-121 

twentieth century, 624 
Trieste, 589 
Triple Alliance. 552-553 

Italy and, 350 
Triple Entente, 449, 502, 562 
Tripolitan war, 531 
Tropical colonies, British, 482-483 
Trusts ; 

European, 649-651 

control of, 650-651 
Tuileries, the, 159 
Tull, Jethro, 228 
Tunis, 553 

French occupation of, 531-532 
Turgot, 148-149 
Turkey ; 

expansion of, 533-534 

in Great War, 586, 591 

loss of territory by, 534, 538, 
444-445 

reforms in, 542-544 
Tuscany, 284, 299 

Ukrainia, 398, 414 

Ulstermen, 470 

Ultimatum, Austria to Serbia, 575 

Unearned increment, tax on, 451 

Unemployment, 664 

Union of Great Britain and Ireland, 
467 

Union of South Africa, 491 

Unions, labor, 263-264, 408, 446 

United Kingdom. See Great Britain 

United States ; 

first constitution of, 111 
first organization of government 
of, 108-109 



United States — Continued 

German intrigues against, 554- 

555, 594 
in Great War, 594-596, 601- 

602, 605-606 
present constitution of, 111-112 
Utrecht, treaty of, 70, 100-101 

Valmy, battle of, 160 

Vatican, prisoner of the, 301-302, 

347, 348 
Venice, 174 n., 301 
Verdun ; 

forts of, 556 

in Great War,* 582, 596-597 
Versailles ; 

French court at, 64-65 

march of the mob on, 1789, 154 
Victor Emmanuel II, 285, 295, 

299, 300, 301 
Victoria, Queen, 431, 449, 485 
Vienna ; 

Congress of, 208-211 

revolution in, 1848, 276-278 
Villeins, position of, 6-7. See 

Peasants 
Villeneuve, 180 
Vinogradoff, 423 

Virginia, early history of, 93-94 
Voltaire, 127-128 

Volunteer enlistment, British, 455 
Von Plehve, 407, 408 . 
Von Tirpitz, Admiral, 377 

Wage boards, 656 
Wages, 260-261 
Wagram, battle of, 186 
Walpole, Sir Robert, 46-47 
War; 

Austrian Succession, 79, 99, 
102 

Austro-Prussian, 308-310 

Balkan, 544-545 

Boer, 491 

Chino-Japanese, 511-512, 519 

Crimean, 314, 536-537 

Danish, 307 

Dutch and English, 91, 96 

effect of Great, 679-682 

English civil, 38 

Franco-Prussian, 318-320 

of Frederick the Great, 78-79 



710 



INDEX 



War — Continued 

French revolutionary, 157-158, 
165-166 

Great, Ch. XXII 

Louis XIV's, 67-70 

Napoleonic, 173-192, 421-423 

Revolutionary, 100, 108-111 

Russo-Japanese, 411, 520 

Russo-Turkish, 536-539 

Seven Years', 79, 100, 102-105 

Spanish Succession, 69-70, 99, 
100-101 
War cabinet, 455 

Warsaw, Grand Duchy of, 187, 202, 
209-211 

capture of, 585 
Watch, the, 10 

Water, municipal ownership of, 632 
Waterloo, campaign of, 191-192 
Watt, James, 234 
Weaving, method of, before 1750, 

231 
Wellington, Duke of, 186, 191-192, 

427 
Welt-Politik, German, 554-556 
Wesley, John, 58 
Western theater of war, 578-579 
West Indies ; 

British, 483 n. 

commerce of, 89, 100-101 
Westphalia, kingdom of, 202 

peace of, 20 
Wheat, 256 n., 341, 349, 639 
Whigs ; 

beginning of, 41 

and early Hanoverians, 46-48 
Whitefieid, George, 58 
Whitney, Eli, 233 



Wilhelmina, 353, 354 
William I of Prussia, 305, 306 
William II, Kaiser, 374, 375, 377, 

554, 562-564, 565, 573, 577 
William III of England, 45-46 
William IV of England, 427 
Williams, Roger, 23, 56 
Windischgratz, 277-278 
Wine, 56, 252, 342, 349 
Witte, Sergius, 404, 410 
Woman; 

attitude of Germans toward, 383 

position of, at present, 455, 667- 
669, 679 

protective legislation for, 436- 
437 

suffrage, 622 
Woolen manufacturing, 223-225, 

227-228, 458 
Workers ; 

See also Labor 

discontent of early nineteenth 
century, 263, 271 

relation of, to capital, 652-657 

social insurance and, 660-664 

Yangtse river basin, 509, 515 

Yorktown, battle of, 109 

Young India, 501 

Young Italy, 283 

Young Turks, the, 542-544 

Ypres, 584 n., 665 

Yuan Shih-kai, 514 

Zemstvos> Russian, 400, 408 
Zola, Emil, 334 

Zollverein, German, 257-258, 303- 
304, 372 



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